Our Little Angel

Brianna was nestled on my shoulder, her head under my chin. I was patting her on the butt with one hand and rubbing her back with the other and murmuring "Sweet baby...sweet baby" over and over again.

Then I laughed, as I realized that I was talking to her exactly the way I talk to all the puppies that I cuddle.

Yes, we have met our granddaughter.

(There is actually a better picture of me with her, but it's in Laurel's camera and I have to get a copy from her)

We stopped at a restaurant and picked up lunch for the four of us, so Tom and Laurel wouldn't feel pressured to fix us something and unfortunately we arrived at the house a bit early. Tom was in the middle of a business call and changing Bri (our son has mastered the art of multi-tasking!). But eventually Brianna was dressed and Laurel handed her off to me.

Honestly, I was not prepared for my reaction. I looked down at that beautiful little face (of course she's the most beautiful baby in the world--all you people who thought your grandchildren held that title are mistaken!) and my eyes welled with tears and I had to keep my head down looking at her so nobody would realize I was so emotional about finally meeting this sweet little baby.

So many emotions that I can't even put into words. So beautiful to watch Tom and Laurel with her. Tom. Our second youngest son. A Daddy. In my mind's eye he's still that little toddler with the football under his arm, running into the house to jump into my lap for a quick cuddle. Now he's a Daddy.

So sad that David and Paul aren't here to see this new little life coming into the family. How excited they would have been, especially David.

We eventually went into the brand new kitchen and all sat down at the brand new table for lunch.

(The table just arrived yesterday; the kitchen remodel was only finished just before Brianna was born.)

Laurel's father arrived, so we took a "grandpas" picture

(look at the size of Brianna compared to Tom's hand)

(I am assuming that at some point there will also be a "grandmas picture," but Laurel's mother [who has been there almost every day], was not there when we were.)

After lunch there was more baby cuddling and then Brianna was starting to get hungry, and Laurel looked very tired, so we told them goodbye and left. We are going to go for a walk tomorrow, and let Brianna meet one of her great grandmothers.

We spent the afternoon at Walt's mother's place, getting her set up with a new remote control for her TV, which will be easier for her to use since the buttons are easier to feel, and she can't see them), and then we had dinner with her in the dining room.

Now there's an experience. It's actually quite an elegant place, for an assisted living facility.

But it is assisted living, so you get your share of...shall we say "eccentrics" ? There is Sneezing Guy who sneezes long, loud, and constantly. I had encountered him last time, so I wasn't as surprised this time, but you swear he's about to die from his sneezing attacks. They say he's always like that.

In what is set off almost like a private room were six very proper, very elegant looking ladies, with perfectly coiffed hair, beautifully manicured nails, and a certain air of dignity about them. They reminded me of my grandmother's sewing club years and years ago, except they all seemed to wear the ubiquitous jewelry--a call button on a cord around their necks!. Walt said it looked like a meeting of the Mafia, so we started referring to them as The Mafia Wives.

Then there was lima bean guy (in the wheelchair, above) who swore that his "ham hocks and lima beans" only came with 3 lima beans and that he loves lima beans and had been shortchanged. He told everyone over and over again about how he had only gotten 3 lima beans. The waiter brought him a bowl of lima beans and he was temporarily happy.

In the meantime, we had ordered our dinner--scallops and shrimp in mornay sauce for Walt and me and chicken for Walt's mother. (I will say that the food in this joint is excellent and our seafood tonight was about the best dinner I'd had there--and more than I could eat; I gave Walt one of my scallops). Since Alice is blind, there is a standing order to cut her meat, and they forgot to do it, so they took it back to the kitchen to cut. We could have cut it in a few seconds, but it must have taken then 10 minutes to return the chicken.

In the meantime Sneezing Guy had left and Lima Bean guy, having finished his bowl of beans, also left, but was brought back because he hadn't had his dessert. When he got back to the table, he started complaining again about how he had been shortchanged on the lima beans and how he really loved lima beans.

We finished our meal and took Alice back to her room, where we would watch Jeopardy and wait until Alice Nan got there, as she had been working late. When she arrived, we all put our feet up and relaxed until it was time to leave.

Tomorrow we'll have another session with Brianna and her "TuTu" (Hawaiian for "grandmother") will finally get to meet her.

I'm going to sleep tonight feeling very full indeed -- not only of scallops and shrimp, but of emotion about this beautiful little girl who is now part of our family.