Our Grandson Turned 9

Over the last weekend our grandson Micah turned nine years old. He is a great kid and I know that if you met him you'd like him. He's got a big heart and has feelings that run pretty deep for a nine year old kid. He plays all that kind of coy though, and often doesn't come right out with all that's going on in that head of his. But, I tell you this, he can crack you up or completely undo you with a certain look he has. In that way he reminds me a lot of his mother. He's a bit on the small size, but he's supremely coordinated and athletic-an outstanding soccer player. There's a great deal more I could say to describe him, but I'll get back to that later.

Zoe is Micah's sister, who will be eleven years old in a few months. She is our first grandchild and as such had about 500,000 pictures taken of her that first year of life. She, too, is a very endearing child and very special to us. She has a maturity about her that belies her young age, along with a whimsical way that's playful and cute. Like her brother, there is always more going on just below the surface. She is an avid reader and is whip smart. She's a good little athlete too, but  hasn't found her niche just yet. But she's a fearless soul when it comes to trying new things, and I predict great things in her future.

Micah and Zoe have a step-brother named Jaydn who is just older than Zoe. We have really come to love this kid. There are always adjustments when families blend, but things generally work out well when there is patience and love to go around. My daughter and her husband have made sure of that. Jaydn is a vivacious boy, who like all 6th graders, is starting to get that grown up look about him. He's always trying new things and is eager to please. He has an easy manner and is constantly on the move. He's easy to talk with and he really craves adult conversation.

Our youngest daughter and her husband have another of our grandsons. Ben will be six years old in January. He is very special to us as well. He had an early and unexpected entry into the world. But he overcame that small setback and is now a very robust, energetic kindergartner. I know this is starting to sound redundant and like nothing more than grandparent pride, but he is a very smart young kid with lots of potential. Add that to a killer smile and lots of charm and you have a pretty great kid. Ben will have to start sharing his parents with yet another granddaughter due in January.

To say we are fortunate to have all these great kids in our lives is a monumental understatement. We loved being parents, but there is something so special about the grandparent role. It enables a person to have a very close relationship with a child, to teach (and learn), encourage, and support these young people in ways a parent can't. Parents have the most important job- but grandparents can be there for these kids in a way that can't be duplicated. Having them all here in town with us makes us particularly fortunate and appreciative.

Without playing favorites, let's get back to Micah. His ninth birthday this past week gave me a special reason to think about him, me, and the future for all the kids I've just introduced you to . It got me reflecting back to the year of my 9th birthday. I think this was the first year in my life where I actually began to see the world as a complicated and sometimes difficult place. Don't get me wrong- I had a fairly secure and safe upbringing. I was surrounded by an extended family who cared about me. But it was also the first year I can remember where I had thoughts about the world outside my safe upbringing.

In 1963 I completed the 3rd grade with a great teacher who really encouraged us to learn about ourselves and do things differently than the schooling I had received up till then. I was in a Catholic school, but had only been taught by the Sisters. In third grade I had a lay teacher (as they were called then). She was an older lady and I can still picture her. My guess is that she taught in a Catholic school because she probably didn't fit in to the public school mold. Nonetheless, I remember her as being quite different and I remember that year as my favorite one in the Catholic grade school.

Later in 1963, as a 4th grader, the country and I experienced the assassination of JFK. Nothing can shock your childhood world more than a national crisis that every single person in your life is reacting to with sorrow and confusion. Being only 9, I couldn't comprehend the meaning of these things but I knew a major and unprecedented event had just occurred. Then, the Sunday after JFK was killed, as my dad and I watched, Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered right in front of us on live TV. So this was the age I started seeing the world beyond my own home. I know that Micah is seeing that world  too. Conversations with him leave no doubt he has reached the point of recognizing the issues and uncertainties of the world, as well as its great wonders and treasures. In lots of ways I kind of envy him the great discoveries he will make within himself and in the world he lives in. Every time I see him I can see his mind at work. What a time of growth. Jaydn and Zoe have already been there and continue to discover new ideas, great new people, and the problems the world faces.


As Micah is passing through this doorway now, I feel a special responsibility to him. I feel it for Jaydn, Zoe, Ben, and our "player to be named later" too. Perhaps, this is the reason I've taken to speaking out more in my personal life, and in this blog, about the things that concern me. It's not my future I'm concerned for- it is theirs! We are making huge decisions now that will determine what their life will be like only a few short years from now. And I don't like the tone of things. There is a selfishness, a smallness, and a pessimism that is invading our spirit these days. Too many of our people want to reverse the progress we've made and take huge steps backwards. I don't want that for my grand kids.

I'd like to see a future for them that is not threatened by global climate changes that will make clean water and food scarce, and foul the air with the residue of burned fossil fuels. I'd like to see a future for them that is not controlled by privileged few, while the masses scrape by. I'd like to see a world for them where our best values are the rule of the day- not beliefs that are born out of fear, hatred, and repression for convenience sake. I'd like to see a future for them that relies on the truth of science and reason- not superstitions rooted in ancient dogma. I've got wonderful grandchildren, as other grandparents do. I'd like to see the world they inherit be better than it is right now. Our grandson turned 9- I hope we will have made the right choices by the time he turns 18.

Thanks for looking in.