We Don't Miss a Beat

Riley and his parents are in town for the holidays. We have been having a wonderful time and he has been entertaining us with his humor and his love.

What strikes me about the last couple of visits is how we just take up where we left off. There is no need for reacquainting ourselves, he just says something like, “Hi Grampy,” and we dive right into being together.

Maybe I should explain that I am a third culture kid. I did not see my grandparents for sometimes years at a time, so I had to get their measure each time we got together. There was always a slow warming up period. Even before we traveled to the Philippines one set of grandparents lived on the west coast while we lived on the east coast. It was much more expensive to travel in those days, so I would see them only every three of years or so.

Riley knows his family. The night he arrived I was honored to read him his bedtime stories. Most of the time he works me for at least two books. At story time I have developed a pattern of talking about his adventures of the day. His plane trip was longer than scheduled and very tiring, but he was surprisingly fresh. We talked about his trip on the airplanes (he loves airplanes, cars and trains). I asked, “Who met you at the airport?” He said, “Grammy and Grampy." He thought a bit and said, "Did we see Auntie?” “No,” I said, “Auntie is coming in a couple days.” Just three days before Riley and I had talked by phone and his parents had reminded him that he would see Grammy, Grampy, Auntie, Grandma and Grandpa on this trip. He was looking for his family and making a mental inventory of them.

It makes me happy that we are such friends, Riley and I. I am sure that it is kind of amazing to me because it is so different from my experience as a child. I sure do like it and will keep it that way, making sure that I spend time with his parents and him whether he is scheduled for surgery or not.