Sunday, March 29, 2009

Welcome To Our Family, Allison McAllister


Yesterday, I visited my first grandchild, Deana Shar and her baby, my first great-grandchild. Her brother, David, lives with his fiance in New Orleans. David's wife was due to give birth to their first child on or around April 21st or so.
Allison McAllister decided to arrive on March 26th instead. This is 5 days from what would have been her grandmother, Leslie Susan's 46th birthday. Even though Leslie is now with God, I know she would love this little girl as much as she loves her first grandchild, Alyssa Nicole, the daughter of Deana and Bobby Jansen. She weighed in at 6 pounds, but what a bundle of joy she will be.
I have many different friends and acquaintances about my age who have no grandchildren or great-grandchildren, and that is such a loss to their lives. Being a grandmother, and even better, a great-grandmother is the best life role ever!
God gave us loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren as a reward for all of random acts of kindness. The thing about grandchildren is that they always accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to change us, as no one in our entire life has done, not our parents, siblings, spouses, friends - and hardly ever our grown children. There is love on this planet Earth because grandparents are part of the equation. The following is a poem about great-grandmothers and I wear that badge proudly:
GREAT - GRANDMOTHERS
There is a special woman whose love has meant so much.
She blesses those around her with love and tender touch.
She's strong in faith and courage, yet gentle as a dove.
She as a special mission determined by God above.
He knew one day children would walk upon this land and
He needed a special woman to guide them by the hand.
She loved them every day until they each had grown,
And soon her little babies had babies of their own.
"Grandma" or Gee Gee or NaNa they now called her, a
Sound she loved to hear.
She spread her hugs and kisses to each grandchild so dear.
She tickled them and sang to them and dried their little tears
But soon those babies grew as the days turned into years.
God watched this special woman from His kingdom up above,
And though her hair had grayed, her eyes still shown with love.
"Her work is not complete yet" the angels heard Him say.
"I still have precious children that I must send her way."
So though she's not as young as she once used to be,
She still can bounce a baby upon her bended knee.
And though her loving arms are sometime tired and sore,
They'll never be too tired to hug a child she adores.
So as you can see, God's plan was very good.
He needed one to spread his love and he knew this woman would.
So in answering God's call, we learn it is never too late.
For loving God's own children are what made this Grandma GREAT!!
(a poem by Melissa Evans)
I could never overstate how important my grandmothers were in my life. They were a port in the storm when so much chaos existed; they constantly gave me hope, reassurance and a belief in myself and what I could do with my life. To live up to the example set by these two fine women would make my life complete, and believe me I am working on it with my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
So welcome Allison, it is a guarantee that you will be loved!!

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