The Golden Years...

    
      We travel with two dogs which demand a good bit of time and attention, so often we find ourselves struggling to get out of the coach and on the road much before 10 a.m.  We often think back to the days when we were raising children and had them fed, dressed and off to school before arriving at our desks by 8 a.m. after a commute in rush-hour traffic.

      

      Valerie drove from Okeechobee, Florida, where we were staying at Water's Edge Motor Coach and RV Resort to Orlando and flew to Kansas City for a week-long visit with her son and his family.  Grandson, Grady, celebrated his fourth birthday with family and friends.  His sister, Annalynn, is a year and a half.




      There are diapers to change, games to play, three meals a day to plan, baths, fevers to fight, dishes to wash, bedtime rituals, piles of laundry to clean and fold, tears to dry, and books to read over and over and over again.  All the while, there are important life lessons to be learned.  How did we actually survive this chaos and work outside the home, too?  The only reasonable explanation is that we were much younger then.  



      Valerie was happy to give mom and dad a night out and an extra hand.  She would get tired, but would have time to recover upon her return to retirement.  Working mothers and fathers fortunately don't have too much time to ponder the huge responsibility of the love and reassurance they provide for their children day to day and often a good part of the night. 



      All too soon, this hectic phase of life will creep to an end and the parents' time will again be their own.  Their hearts, however, are forever changed.  And, someday, with any luck, they, too, will experience the joy of grandchildren who are happy to occupy that empty space from time to time, which children carved so deeply into their hearts and souls and their very beings.  And they will cherish each and every precious moment until it's time again to retreat to their rediscovered lives of relative peace and quiet.

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots; the other, wings."  -- William Hodding Carter, Jr.