Tag Archives: grandchildren

The Road to Diamond, Day 365: Gratitude

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

November 27, 2025, Grapevine- My grandchild gave a small kick, when I spoke to her through her mother’s belly. Her coming birth is surely the shiniest blessing, overarching this year and the next. Grandparenthood is already a feeling far different, in a beautiful way, than anything I have ever experienced, and it will only get more so, upon her arrival. Those who are already grandparents know this all too well.

Thankfulness cannot be relegated to one day a year, though I am supremely thankful to have been brought into the world, myself, in a season of collective thanks. Many years, my birthday has fallen on Thanksgiving Day, making my mother thankful that I loved roast turkey, stuffing, butternut squash and green bean casserole, while being tolerant of mashed potatoes. This Thanksgiving Day, the last day before my diamond jubilee, was Aram’s first turn at actually carving a turkey-so he asked me, at long last, to show him how. I am grateful for fatherhood, and the ways that it never ends.

I had lengthy conversations with both of my living brothers today. Both are living embodiments of what it means to persist and redefine success. My sister is that, as well, and has forever defined, for me, triumph over adversity. They have each walked their trails to strength and purposeful living. I am grateful for siblinghood, and the ways that it never ends.

This afternoon,looking at the house where we will be a family of four, gave me a sense of both fulfillment and wonder. I would not have predicted this state of affairs, even a year ago. It is a sizable place and my area is almost as large as my present apartment, save my current kitchen. It will be a comfort being in a house that is a home, from the get go. I will let go of most of what I presently own-including about 80 % of my books. In return, I will have the knowledge that my little family is secure, day to day, and that things can always be replaced. I am grateful for shelter, and the ways that it is always available.

I will be leaving Arizona soon, after an at times topsy-turvy life of service to children and teens, that has only deepened my commitment to their well-being, In the course of things, lifelong friendships have been built, old and counterproductive concepts and habits from my youth have been cast aside and a commitment to Faith has arisen. I am grateful for all the friends who have stood by me, over the past thirty-three years. I am grateful for Divine Guidance, and the ways that it has never let me down.

Over the next 2-5 years, I will be more settled than I have been in the past fourteen. I will need my health and stamina to meet different needs, some of which can only be surmised at this point. Travel has its bounties and strengths; building family also has its share of both. Living consciously and maintaining equilibrium have been an enormous blessing. I am grateful for flexibility, and the ways it has guided me through so much change over the years, and will continue to guide.

Now I have reached a point attained by many elders and by several of my cousins before me. I am grateful for having safely achieved the age of seventy-five. More on that, tomorrow, but let me thank all of you, my family and friends, across this continent and across the planet. You are my life’s grandest blessing.

I am closing with a song that I consider one of the most beautiful of this, or any century. This one is for my Mom and Dad, for whom I have the most gratitude of all.

The Road to Diamond, Day 91: The Way Home

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 27,2025- I spent part of this morning talking with a community member who is looking to head back to her previous place of residence. Grandchildren are the impetus, making it feel like home. They are certainly a powerful draw and I would have to strongly consider being close to any grandbabies who might bless my life.

A few online friends have somehow gotten fed up with my meanderings and have cut ties, after saying they hope I find what I’m seeking. That is somewhat reasonable, since “seeker” is part of my site name. To the extent that search is my primary motivator, though, home is not the object. Truth is certainly an object, and it may be found anywhere-whether one wanders or not. Friends are a motivator for search, whether meeting with those who are online chums or re-visiting long real-time friends. Whatever the reason for a journey, there is always something to be learned.

The thing about the word “home”, for me, is that it is a place of mind, as well as heart. I am not searching for home, since it’s everywhere. The “way” home is as simple as relaxation and as intense as focus on what is right in front. It is also a matter of realizing where one is most needed, and wanting to be there, more than anywhere else.

Those facets of my being have determined where I’ve been, on any given day, pretty much since 2011. There have been a few brain burps and hiccups, where I haven’t quite gotten the location, or the mission, right. Those have been corrected in relatively short order, and with as little damage to self and others as possible. That is what I aim to continue, no matter the challenges that lie ahead.

Devotion

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 14, 2024, Carson City- There is much that one does for love, in this life, that would not otherwise be on one’s personal agenda. Parents and grandparents most often know this. So do caretakers of disabled spouses or elderly parents. Teachers and coaches also do, to some extent, though their personal agendas are wrapped within their callings.

This goes well beyond the obvious things, like bathing and dressing those who are unable to do so for themselves, or watching small children who are playing outside, or in a public space. It extends to those who “hold their noses and play yet another round” of a game one finds tiresome or even irritating. It becomes, at its level best, an exercise in detachment.

Thus did a friend spend time with a beloved child. I joined them, finding actually a mild amusement in the game, which is more than a bit whimsical. Such is childhood, on occasion, and rightly so. There is more than enough preparation for adulthood that faces today’s children, and at an earlier age-despite what pundits and commentators say about delayed adolescence. There is that too, of course, and the rub is that someone has to be the mature decision maker and social actor. When an adult-even a parent-is in the midst of delayed adolescence, sometimes the child(ren) have to step in. I have seen this in a great number of cases, over the years. Children, in such instances, are out on a limb, and do the best they can-but they don’t have all the tools necessary to hold things together.

Grandparents are in a very special position. There are jokes made about being able to send the kids home, at the end of a day, but there is no love quite like that of Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, Nonna, Aba, Bump or Meemaw. It is, in its essence, a reflection of the deep love that is held for one’s adult children, that the thought of them not succeeding, of them suffering the injury or loss of their offspring is beyond the pale.

Being a grandparent in waiting, I understand this concept, and am glad to just be able to dote on those children and youths of other friends and relatives-until such time as my own grandkids arrive-and even then, devotion is unlimited.