Monday, January 30, 2012

Forever Selfish

Our plane landed in Madison, Wisconsin on a dazzling sunny day. My family exited the plane and went to luggage pickup. There waiting for us were my grandparents. Such joy we always have upon seeing them! Living in Oakland, California made it hard to each other much. I hugged my grandpa with my little arms, inhaling his expensive cologne and squeezing his soft zigzag sweater. We share little words but wink at each other; smiling cheesy grins. No one in the world could ever understand our relationship. We say so much with our eyes and teeth. And then I raced to my grandma, taking in her stunningly bright-colored sweat suit. I asked her if we could go to the pool that day. She chuckled and poked my nose saying it was a bit chilly out for swimming, maybe next time. As my six other family members followed my grandparents to the cars, (for naturally we could not all fit into one compacted car,) my mind was on water toys, misty fountains, and melting ice cream.  We left the building and headed into the damp, rubber-smelling, parking garage. Up ahead I saw an ink black PT-Cruiser and smiled. At seven years old PT-Cruisers were the “coolest.” I wondered if I would ever get to ride in one; my imagination went wild at the thought. As we kept walking I kept looking for my grandpa’s gray and my grandma’s white Honda’s. We were very close to the PT-Cruiser now. To my astonishment, grandma approached and unlocked the sleek black PT-Cruiser.

“Grandma!” I whispered loudly, “This is your car?”
“Yes, dear. Grandma got a new car. Do you like it?” she replied with a twinkle in her eye.
I, as my seven-year-old mind thought dramatically, “almost died.”  Of course I didn’t just like it; I LOVED it. What would my friends say? I could hardly wait to tell them! I had the coolest grandparents ever!

When I think of my grandparents, three adjectives come to mind: wise, humble, and generous. They think before speaking and consult before acting. It is these things that have made me forever selfish of them; for why would I want to share them with anyone else? Could it be possible to tuck them in my pocket and pull them out whenever I needed advise? Or maybe just to take me to the pool and let me lap on a dripping ice cream while sitting in the cool fountain? 

My love to them, forever and always

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