Goodbye, is the hardest...

You would think that hello would be the hardest thing for a kid to say. But not for our Mina.

For her it Is goodbye.

As an only child she experiences a lot of goodbyes. Where most of us have brothers and sisters to help soften the blow of missing people.
She does not.

So when she gets to be with her cousin Ellie, on weekends, at grandma and grandpa's it is a wonderful thing. Sure she has to learn to share and to remember that there are two sides to every issue. Something that is hard for all kids, of any age.

Her cousin, Ellie, is the same.

No, for Mina "hello!" comes naturally. Almost too naturally...

No for her it is "goodbye" that breaks her little heart. Despite all the things that make being together with her cousin hard, like sharing.

It is still her favorite thing to do .
She tries so hard to be a good "big sister" and her heart is just so open and giving...

I am so grateful for my brothers and sisters at these times watching these sweet girls become sister cousins. Something they both need, and want. So badly!

Then comes the sad part...

It is Sunday, and they must part.
The tears, the heartbreaking sadness... "but I don't want her to go grandma! "
"I just love her so much!!
Watching her, holding her hand and comforting her. I tell her it will be okay, and it will be.

But I realize that I am lying too.

Oh I have gotten used to the goodbyes and the time apart from my brothers and sisters. But goodbye is the hardest part. And though on the outside I am smiling. On the inside I am the same as my little Mina...

The Walk Home...

Pretty much every afternoon now I get to walk my granddaughter Mina home from school.

I love doing it!

It is a time for reflection and fun. Every day she shouts "grandma! As though it is the first time we are doing this.

We start our conversation with what her day was like. And then a quick rundown of my day so far. Then she begins to point out things to me. Flowers so small and perfect that would fit on the top of a pencil eraser.

She collects fall leaf bouquets for her mommy.

When she saw water workers drilling on the sidewalk she walked up and looked in the hole and asked what they were doing? They replied that they were looking for gold! She was so excited! "Maybe there really is gold under the streets and sidewalk grandma !"

I was about to dash all her young hopes but I decided not to.

Because... I remembered all the wonderful things I used to imagine on the way home from school. That wonderful time of endless possibilities

These wonderful walks remind me every day to look for the very small things, like little flowers.

The beautiful things all around me in the changing of the season that I could only see as a need to get things ready for winter.

And to make a beautiful gift of it to someone who was not there with us.

But I think my favorite thing is her glory in exploring the world around her the way she jumps in and asks questions. And her total dedication to the idea of endless possibilities !

Soon enough the real world will place it's weight on her. But I hope these walks encourage her to find a way to incorporate all the possibilities that she sees now.

"Grandma can we go slow? There's a lot to see. " She says.
"Yup honey!" "we have all the time in the world..."