I’m a Great Grandmother!

Yep, I’m a great grand- mother. Pun intended. As I have thought about and writ- ten that to family and friends the past week, it has occurred to me that being a “great” great-grandmother doesn’t just happen. We work at it like anything else that is important to us.

My grandson, my son’s son, and his wife had a baby daughter a week ago. (She weighed 10 lbs. 1 ounce, so I decided not to say “little baby.”) I have fallen in love with her over Facebook. They live in Oklahoma, so a trip to visit will take some planning.

As my children are scattered around the country, I have had to be innovative in order to build relationships with spouses and especially with grandchildren. That includes Lilyann’s daddy. When Colton was just a lit- tle guy, he knew me as the person who sent him cards, letters, packages, and would occasionally talk to him on the phone. He and his parents visited me a couple of times and I made a few trips to Texas to visit him. A couple of years ago, he stayed a summer with his dad and stepmother while they were in Northern Virginia so I got to know him as an adult.

When, years later, my two granddaughters came along, I was able to visit them in Colorado when they were 2 and 6 years old. Before that they had moved quite a bit while their daddy was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan before they were stationed here in Virginia. Now, at ages 7 and 11, they are in Alaska at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. The youngest one is able to text me and asks me to “please, please, please…come to see me”. I am again dependent on the mail to get my cards, letters, and packages to my g-girlies.

When I visited the grand daughters, I made it a point to take with me crafts and other activities for us to do together. Now that I have the three year-old grandson in South Carolina, his first question to me when I visit is, “Meema! Did you bring me something to do?” He, too, will eventually figure out why he doesn’t see me as often as he does his other grandmother, but I count on the pictures and videos I get on my phone to keep up with how he is grow- ing.

Although this is very different from how things were when my children were small, it is still possible for me to stay in touch and in- volved in the lives of these very special family members. While I may not actually be a “great” great-grandmother, I am making an effort and doing the best I can to get to know these precious children and allow them to get to know their Meema.

For any of you who live a distance from g-kids, I would love to hear what you do to keep in touch with those young family members and to help them learn who you are. You may reach me at this newspaper, at brenda.holland.r@gmail.com, 434-941- 2837, or 164 Walton Road, Keysville, VA 23947. Happy Parenting.