The Circle of Life

OK, I'm melancholy this evening, reminiscing about a time long ago raising kids - Christmas, Halloween, Easter egg hunts, school plays, family outings, sporting events, and all that time spent together. And then those kids grew up - off to college, working, developing their own relationships. And we parents rejoiced. As the Norwegians say, "Happiness is when the kids grow up and leave, and the dog dies".

Then your children get married, start having their own children, and the circle of life brings them back to their relationship with their parents. And as time goes by a wonderful thing happens; grandchildren come along.

Being a grandparent is the best of both worlds; you relive all those good things you experienced with kids, but not much of the bad. No real responsibilities - just spoil them and send them back to their parents. In our case we have been fortunate and developed more than just a grandparents/grand kids relationship. We have had years of one-on-one with them , without parents, and we became more than grandparents, we became friends - scavenger hunts, trips together, dinners together; just spending time together, grand kids and us.

We are still close to them but cannot seem to get them together anymore. That's not a bad thing; the inevitable happens - the circle continues and grandchildren grow up - they go off to college, start working, and develop their own relationships. They used to visit every few months, now maybe every year or two. Of course we see them more often that that with Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and visits to their homes, but it's not the same as having all of them together with just us for a week or two.

So here we sit, waiting for possibly more grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren, but hey kids - time is running out!