The significance of the moment

There was no email on Friday because last Friday was Grandparents Day… and this was our first Grandparents Day for any of our grandkids at their school. So, we were pretty excited about it.

We left for North Carolina the night before and went most of the way and spent the night in a hotel so we would not have that far to drive the next morning. The festivities started a little bit after 8:00 am the next day.

We arrived at the school, and before we walk into the auditorium for the assembly, I had to go use the bathhouse. As I go to use the sink afterwards, it is an automatic sink… but it is not working automatically. I’m over there waving my hands around and nothing’s happening.

So then I start looking for buttons… and I am pressing anything that’s sticking out on this sink. I finally hit something and the water started working, although I really don’t think that that button (if it was a button) had anything to do with it. So I wash my hands and as I turn around, there are two second graders staring at me… with looks on their faces like, “Dude, what are you doing up there?” Or they could have been thinking, “Keep an eye on this guy. He’s pressing every single knob and doohickey that’s sticking out. We have no idea what he’s doing.”

So we go into the assembly and it was a great experience. We then got to go to the classrooms of our two grandkids; one in pre-K and one in first grade. They had a schedule where you kind of rotated, and at one point, I wound up with Eleanor in one of those rotations, and we are really supposed to be at their specialty classes like music or art. So I said, “Well, let’s go there.” Somehow we wind up with a kid named Walker with us, and I don’t even know who Walker is. Next thing, you know, the three of us are wandering the halls to try to find the music room. (It’s not like I can give any direction on that… I am following the two first graders.)

Now, most everyone else are in places where they are supposed to be, and here we are, the rogue three, wandering the hallways.

Once the morning was over, it was time to leave and the grandkids were going to spend the weekend with us. We encouraged them, “Hey, let’s go use the bathhouse before we get in the car.” So I go in the bathhouse with our pre-K grandchild. There’s one urinal that’s shorter than all the others and so I point to it and say, “Well, there you go.” He kind of looks at me and starts edging his way towards the urinal. And then he keeps looking back at me, kind of uncertain. And so I finally say, “Do you need any help?”

At this point, another grandfather, who is older than me and is also in the bathhouse, walks by me with a smile and half smirk on his face and a look of camaraderie and pats me on the shoulder, as if to say, “Wish you the best with all that.”

Once we got the bathhouse taken care of, we headed to the car and we had a grand ol’ time for the weekend. By Saturday night, though, the kids had gotten sick and come down with a fever, and so we didn’t get very much sleep the final night. and stayed with them those final hours until their mom picked them up.

It just goes to show that the joys of life… also come with challenges.

Our hearts went out to the kids because they were really not feeling well. And obviously, this is something that none of us hoped for or wanted.

How often are we looking forward to something or expecting something to be perfect, and then some challenge pops up, and then we get filled with anxiety or sorrow or any number of emotions? It is a good perspective for us to realize that with the joys also come the challenges.  It is true in many scenarios of life. It is best to rejoice and embrace that which is great and when a challenge comes up, well, face it and respond in love… but don’t let it determine the significance of the moment.

It’s a great day to make it a great day!