On a day when you’re just going through the motions; when everything feels like drudgery at its worse and routine at its best; when it’s all you can do to go through the motions; it would behoove you to have a five-year-old, super-duper-trooper of a girl like my granddaughter, Saige, nearby. (Oh, she’s so-so-so precious.) “We’re walking in the rain,” she sings as we make our way of the three long, hilly blocks to the T stop. It’s been raining most of the week and I’m tired of rain but she’s not bothered by it. “I can’t make a splash,” she says, “because I don’t have my rain boots. Can I tiptoe through the puddles?” And off she goes – tiptoeing through rain puddles. “We’re riding-riding-riding on the tr-tr-train,” she says once we’re on the Redline. “Ooohhh, I see the windmill!” she exclaims as she does every time we pass it during her visit. “It’s going s-l-o-w today.” And so it is with everything we do on this day. She notices the dandelions and wants to pick them for me. She loves to hop on and walk across ledges and borders – holding my hand – if they’re really high or balancing if they’re lower. Why stay down on a sidewalk when you there’s higher terrain? And, of couse, at the end you have to jump off with a flourish. Steps are to skip up and down, counting all the way. When we’re killing time between two meetings on one of the benches at the Prudential Center, Saige asks me to watch as she reenacts a show she did at her daycare center. Then she performs “What a Wonderful World” just like she did with her friends at her graduation the day before she came to Boston for her two week visit. She takes a serious bow when she’s done and always strikes a pose when I take her picture. The rainy day is no longer dreary and the magic of Boston – especially the center of Boston with all the majestic buildings and places to see is renewed for me. “Can I make a wish?” she asks as we pass by the reflecting pool at the Christian Science Center. “You make a wish, too, Grandi” she instructs. But I can tell you what I wished for – many more visits with my granddaughter Saige and a pledge to keep her spirit nearby to notice and celebrate the small pleasures that abound all around if you just tap into them. If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
“I REMEMBER THIS!” she announces with all the enthusiasm of her whole being as we enter the Public Garden. She’d visited once before a year earlier. “The Swan Boats are here,” she says, pleased with herself for remembering.
“I can’t tell you what I wished for,” she lets me know quite seriously. Then smiles and gives me the best hug just in case my feelings wree hurt. (She’s thoughtful that way.)
<><><><><>
Don’t Change: An Impossible Request of Family
