This last week granddaughter Ellie turned nine years old. Besides once again being reminded of just how fast time goes
sometimes, I tend to reflect on what I was doing in those years. What things were important to me and what my life was like at nine. I was a Cub Scout at nine and probably working on my Bear Patch after conquering the Wolf. Next would come Lion, Webelos (We‘ll Be Loyal Scouts) and then the jump to Boy Scouts. I didn’t make it to Explorer, as “Girls and hormones” got in the way I suppose.
But at nine I was into trains, planes and cars, like most boys my age in the fifties. In Ellie, I see some of myself if only imagined. She has a wonderful imagination and sometimes lives in that world of fantasy as I did. An age of innocence when the realities of adulthood are still so many years away. When it is still ok to have an “Imaginary Friend” to share time with. When dreams are reality and every young lady is a princess.
Ellie has a innate love for all animals and with a caring and generous heart she marvels at their individual uniqueness. As a young boy around her age I remember playing like I was different animals even at school. This I must believe is normal when I see Ellie mimicking cats, dogs and any other animal that has captured her fancy at the time. With abandonment of any self-consciousness, she lives within the moment.
Ellie also has natural curiosity for things mechanical and loves to be involved with building and fixing things. Again I can relate and see this as a good sign. It is so important to cultivate her desire to learn new things so she gains and understanding of the world around her.
Ellie’s world is and will be so much different than it was when I was her age and in years to come one can only imagine the marvelous things she will see in her lifetime.
So darling Ellie, I wish you enough of everything to make you rounded in your life experience. Enough good times and bad to realize and appreciate to really good ones. Enough friends good and bad to know the difference when you are fortunate enough to have ones come into your life that are true. Just enough material things, so that you do not take for granted the simplest of them. Enough happiness and sorrow, so that you can feel deeply. May not all of your dreams come true, so that you still have a few left in the end.
Love, Grandpa