I met my granddaughter, Mackenzie Rae, for the first time
today. She is four years old. I was totally
surprised and thoroughly pleased. She had also met her daddy, my son, for the
first time just the weekend before. I guess learning about a brand new family
can be a bit overwhelming for a little girl; aunts, uncles, cousins,
grandparents and great-grandparents, but she took it all in stride.
It could have been an awkward beginning but God made the
road to this meeting short and very sweet. Forgetting the past and looking to a
bright future, Mackenzie is a beautiful child with a loving disposition. She
ran up to me with a big hug and called me Grandma. I told her I was called Mimi
so she quickly changed my name. She sat with me at the restaurant across the table
from her mother and little brother and sister. I would find her smiling up into
my face every time I found myself smiling down into hers. It was love at first
sight.
Mackenzie looks just like her daddy. I
learned she is in the gifted program at her school . . . Aaron was in the
gifted program. I learned she plays T-Ball . . . Aaron played T-Ball. I learned
she made the All-Star team . . . Aaron made the All-Star team every year. I
brought a picture of her daddy when he was her age and a picture of him in his
T-Ball uniform. Her fascination brought a big smile to her face.
I picked up Mackenzie the next morning for Sunday School
and church. It was a special Sunday so there was a potluck dinner after the
service. Because I was in travel mode and could not cook (ha, ha), my
contribution to the dinner was a bag of grapes which Mackenzie and I took off of
the stems and washed. She was concerned that she wouldn’t get any with all the
people there so I made sure we were first in line. She ate two pieces of fried
chicken, NO VEGETABLES; a piece of icing, NO CAKE; and two helpings of grapes. When
we left, we wrapped up the remaining grapes and she took them home with
her.
I was saddened to have missed the first four years of her
life—all the birthdays and Christmases, all the first steps and first words;
the hugs and snuggles and “I love yous.” No matter the past, a love affair
began that day and I know it will continue for life.
Oh, yes. My middle name is Rae. Her mother didn’t know that
when she named her. That’s okay. I accept that as God’s blessing to me.
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