William LOVES to visit my grandfather. Actually, all of my children do. And my grandfather loves for them to visit. At 86 years old, he thoroughly enjoys them. He gets down in the floor and wrestles with them, sits and listens to their stories, tells them stories of his younger days and my grandmother and me as a child, speaks to them in "Donald Duck." In short, the rest of the world does not exist when we are all together. What a wonderful gift.
Though he never shows favoritism, there is a special bond between Pappaw and William. Maybe it is because William was born in his house. Maybe it is because of William's special needs and all the extra time Pappaw has spent praying for him. I don't know, but it's definately there. William loves to romp with Pappaw. He asks about going to visit him every single day. Here is a normal day at Pappaw's house:
Get ready...
Get set...
GO!
Share some laughter together...
And then a kiss!
That's pretty much the routine! Last Monday, however, was quite a different story. When we arrived at Pappaw's, he was in his chair, resting. He had been in the ER the night before with extreme hypertension. William seemed to sense right away that something was different. Without me ever saying a word to him, he remained very quiet the entire time we were there, quite out of character for him. While a couple of the older girls took the two littlest boys out to the playroom, William chose to remain close to his Pappaw, quietly, hardly moving at all.
It really touched my heart to see this little 3 year old boy, sticking so closely to his great-grandfather and seeming to know that he needed quiet. Thank you, Lord, for these special moments.
"The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head." Proverbs 20:29
