Shortly after my granddaughter started spending time with me at 6½ weeks, I put cartoon drawings of her toys on the wall so she’d have something fun and familiar to look at. Her verbal skills grew rapidly and her toys changed, too. Now, at 4½ years, and way past Tinky Winky and Dipsy, she agreed …
Category Archives: Family
heart breaker
Fell off of a stool. I was three feet away. Poor kid. Mea culpa.
plates
She was on the floor showing her mom pictures she colored in pre-school. She held a stegosaurus kind of creature and said, “See? He has all these plates on his back!” From the sidelines I said, “He must have a restaurant.” She said, “No, grampop; these aren’t round plates.” Four years and just about three …
sister I never met
Years ago I visited Mt. Zion Cemetery in Pottstown to try, on a whim, to find the grave of Ginette Stong. She was my sister, born November 7, 1946. She died a week later, on November 14. I know there had been several disappointing miscarriages but this death — of a one-week old infant — must have been devastating …
john
My brother, John. This is a photo I took in July of 1976. John liked the image. I hadn’t seen him since 2010, then on May 8, I had a phone call from a friend of his letting me know John had been discovered dead on April 19. He was born on February 11, 1948. …
thirtytwo and almost four
Wow, I love this drawing so much. “There’s mommy. I’ll put me over here. And I’ll give me pigtails. Maybe mommy, too.” The cheeks and eyelashes are an addition I’ve never seen when she does me and her. Crazy. No training that I’m aware of- purely her own. When I first showed this digital file …
candle light
I had to share this holiday-ish image. We use mini marshmallows on toothpicks. I’m always within reach and blow out the candle if I have to get up. It’s lots of fun, and I think most of that comes from close participation.
another coloring page
Again, I took way too long; started in June. I guess this was faster than the first, but still. The little guy is Skullboy. Known as “My spooky guy,” the folks at Jabebo let my granddaughter pick him out for her birthday. She loves him and loves to color- We’ll see how the two work …
Bob
“Let’s draw Bob the Builder,” she said. We draw a lot, but I always think it’s not enough. I grab pens and paper and we lay on the floor. “How’s this?” I say after drawing his head. “It needs legs.” “Okay. You draw ’em.” So she did. She usually crawls over onto my picture anyway. …
different way of saying
My just-turned-three granddaughter and I were walking down the alley. She looked over at the side of the VFW and said, “They have a very nice water rope.” Well, yes, I guess they do. I asked her mom if she’d ever heard the phrase; it sounded pretty unique to me. She hadn’t, but added that …