Grandpa and Grandma VK

 

Heather Cox Richardson in her Memorial Day post pointed out that when a serviceman died, the potential for generations after him died with him.  It made me think about my dad's coming home after 1 1/2 years in Europe during WWII and my coming into this world 9-10 months later.  And because he came home safely, I was born, and then Jim and I had three children and those children brought eight grandchildren into the world.  Generations--and may there be more to come.  It would be a blessing and a joy to see great-grandchildren come into this world but I know we will have to wait for that!

We moved to the East coast to be able to participate more in the lives of our children and grandchildren.  Saturday Laura was coming to Princeton to do the P-rade of Princeton alumni.  She wanted to bring A and R with her and wondered if they could be with us for the afternoon.  Susan and Jeff invited all of us for a cookout lunch on their deck.  They drove Laura into town and we brought A and R home with us.  I had been a bit concerned about entertaining them for the afternoon and had asked Laura to bring along a deck of cards.  I researched how to play Spoons--and it came back to me easily enough. But we never got to Spoons.  That will be saved for another time. 

 A had plans of his own.  He entertained us with a card magic trick and then a mind-reading trick.  R followed with her version of the card trick.  I was amazed at their cleverness and confidence!  I asked R to play Scrabble with me.  We had a great game in which I was ahead at first and then it was a tie and Ruth pulled it out to win at the end!  R and I made brownies--she said that she loves to bake and we both loved to eat those treats! Jim got both children to take short walks with him to the recycling bin and the mail room--his usual jaunts.  A  child's perspective is always interesting.  A asked Jim how we can find our own apartment when they all look alike.  Apartment living is definitely not a part of his life!  His oldest brother, now 17, can remember apartment living in NYC--but that was far different than ours--on the 34th floor of a skyscraper.  

I was surprised when Laura called to say she was on her way to pick up her children and head for home. The afternoon had gone so quickly!

Tonight we hope to leave our place around 5 in order to get to Black Rock Middle School's spring band concert.  Both R and S will be in their grade level bands and both are in auditioned jazz bands.  It's an hour's drive from here if there was minimal traffic but we don't count on that. More to come on this post after we get home tonight.  

-----------May 31.  There was NOT minimal traffic and we barely made it in time to the school in order to make a quick bathroom stop and get into the seats Laura had saved before the concert started.  R played in the 6th grade band numbers and even introduced one of them.  S played in the 8th grade numbers.  They both played in the competition jazz band numbers.  It was a joy to hear the concert and to be able to support our grandchildren's musical talents and hard work. 

When we got into the car, I turned on my cell phone and checked my email and Facebook--and to my complete surprise and joy, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts by the NY jury.  More on that later today because it is a historic moment and a very troubling one. We were home by 10 pm.