Karen Nazor-HillI'm having the time of my life this summer getting to spend so much time with my three grandchildren.
I'm particularly enjoying the spontaneous subjects we discuss.
A couple weeks ago, for example, 9-year-old Tilleigh asked me if it was weird for me to think about my childhood.
I don't know what sparked the question, other than the kids often ask me what their mommy and her siblings were like growing up. But talking about my childhood is a subject I love. So I pulled her into my lap and told her story after story of what it was like growing up as the daughter of Red and Evelyn Lancaster. My loving parents gave my brother, Larry, and me, a perfect childhood. They were doting parents who loved one another and adored us. Money was never cherished in our home. Love was.
But it was Tilleigh's follow-up question that had me at a loss for words. The big lump in my throat blocked my ability to speak but didn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.
"Is your childhood the reason you are so good to us and love us so much?" Tilleigh asked.
If hearts could melt, mine would have on the spot. I will never hear words so sincere and sweet. My granddaughter, in all her precious innocence, knows the depth of my love for her and her siblings.
I told her that my parents taught me the value of love and that's what we (our family) are teaching them.
My heart also went into a major flutter fest when I overheard William, 3, pretending to talk on the phone to my late mother. I gave my mother's landline phone to the kids to play with after she died in July 2014. William was almost 2 when Mother died and he does remember her - we also talk often about my parents. When he plays with her phone, he pretends to talk to her "in heaven," he says. Do you have any idea what it means to me to overhear this little boy conversing, albeit pretend, with my late mother two years after her death? It's complete joy.
And then there's Evie, 6, the adorable chatterbox. Sometimes I think this little girl has special powers. She's tuned into the feelings of others, giving and loving, that she seems older than 6. She can reason; she's witty, loving, thoughtful and, very often, just downright brilliant.
I'm thankful for these little people. Just like my parents, they're teaching me the value of love.
Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com.