Bittersweet Moments

Life has many bittersweet moments. I am still a bit sleep deprived following our recent surgery and hospital stay, so most of the ones that come to mind right now involve children. I remember when our first daughter was born and I couldn't wait for her first words or her first steps or her first day of school, etc. I remember my mom telling me to stop wishing her life away. I had never quite thought of it like that. I was more wrapped up in the thrill of her progress. But, all too soon I realized that once a milestone had happened, you could never go back to the child she was before-and all too soon, she was no longer a child.

I think it was then that I tried to remember to enjoy each stage as it was happening but there were still some times I found myself wishing to see what came next.

Now that I have grand children and my own life seems to be flying by, I truly relish each stage as I realize that once we have moved on, I will never see that stage again-at least I don't think we will. I think 7 grand children is the magic number for us. It seems as if our three daughters have completed their families. And so, I find myself at yet another bittersweet moment. You see, about 4 or 5 months before our first grand daughter, Hannah, was born, we bought a crib. It is a beautiful dark wood, Jenny Lind style crib. I put it in the front guest room and that is where it has stayed for almost 18 years now! The bedding has changed as the guest room it is in has changed and every one of my grand children has slept in that crib. They have almost thought of it as a second home as none of them has ever been anything but comfy and secure in that bed and we never had any problem with getting them to have a good night's sleep when they were here. In fact, I have often heard that they slept longer here than they did at home.

And so, when grand daughter #5, Presley, moved to a "big girl bed" in her own home I felt that familiar knot in my stomach. But, for some reason, she still wanted to sleep in the crib when she spent the night here. And then it happened. She decided to put herself in for a nap on one recent visit and I found her sound asleep on the HIGH guest bed and I knew we had hit one more of those moments. The last of our "babies" was growing up and we really no longer needed a crib.

So, one morning bright and early, I headed in to take it down. I was incredibly sad to realize that another huge part of our lives was now over and there would be no going back. I spent some time trying to reason with myself that maybe I could still get Presley to sleep in there but the last time I had broached the subject she informed me "I not a baby any more Nana. I a big girl". And so I started and off came rail number one. But wait. A plan of action suddenly became clear. I could now use this as a day bed for Presley and maybe get to drag out the inevitable just a tad longer.

So this is my current configuration-and I'm sticking to it. At least until she grows another inch or two as most of that bed is already pretty much taken up with her long legs. But, for now, I am holding tight to one more last memory-these babies grow up way too fast for my liking! Stay tuned.