ROCK STAR GRANDPARENTS

Because Brennen has grandparents that spoil him rotten, he always gets cards in the mail stuffed with money whenever he does something great at school or during report card time when he confirms good grades were received again. Since moving to Florida, he has collected quite a stash of cash from his Papa Tony and his Grandma Cathy. And when I say stash, they don't just send $5 here and $5 there. These grandparents are sending him more money in each of his cards than I have in my own wallet at any given time. Let's just say that they could have paid for numerous spa pedicures for me with all that money they have given him in recent weeks. And Brennen's new iphone 4 that he picks up this Thursday - well yeah...they pretty much paid for all of that. Brennen paid for $85 of it and they paid the rest. And even the $85 was technically probably all theirs to begin with but it eventually was given to Brennen for his own wallet. Hey...who is going to pay for my iphone 4??? Oh that's right...I stopped getting good grades in like...well 5th grade. LOL!

I keep telling my parents that they need to quit giving him money and quit spoiling him so much but they don't seem to listen to me. If he isn't getting money from them, he gets money from his Grandma Sue for helping her out with certain things as well as money from his grandma Debbie and Papa Ron for different things as well. Brent tells him all the time that he has "forever money." Reason being is because each time he spends money, he just turns right around and suddenly has more from one of his grandparents again. It is never ending. With my parents, Brennen and Kenidi are their only grandchildren. (I'm an only child) Therefore, that boy and his little sister are going to be complete monsters by the time my parents are done spoiling them.

I had to share a photo of this last card with all of you because it just cracked me up when I read it. Grandma Cathy wrote it and I loved her "P.S." at the bottom of the card. PS...NO GIRLFRIENDS! Hysterical! Of course we've all been razzing Brennen about his elementary school crush. He calls her his girlfriend and I just cringe. When he changed his relationship status on his facebook page to "In a relationship," he and I had to have a serious talk. Needless to say, he promptly removed that relationship status after our discussion. Thank goodness. I think he is trying to inflict a stroke on me. So, when Grandma Cathy reminded him "No girlfriends" in their most recent card, I had to laugh because it has been my sentiments exactly. Brennen laughed too. We've had the card sitting out and displayed on the counter over the past week or two and I chuckle each time I walk past it and read Cathy's words at the bottom. Finally, I just had to share.

Brennen has ROCK STARS for grandparents. Of course I can say that because I'm related to each of them. :) The word BIASED comes to mind first and foremost. On a serious note, Brennen and his sister have no idea just how blessed they are that they have grandparents who are actively involved in their lives. One day they will look back on the time they took to spend with them and the quick moments they took to send them cards rewarding and praising them for good works, etc., and realize what a gift their grandparents are. The words that stand out the most to me in the card above are "We are very proud of you." And they are. As are his Dad and I. I would have given my right arm to have a close relationship with all of my grandparents or hear the words "We are so proud of you" when I was a kid. My Moms mom passed away when I was very young from cancer. I knew got to know her at all. I can barely make out what she looked like in my faint group of memories surrounding her. My Moms father died of a heart attack 2 days after he retired from years and years of hard work. He was the one I've mentioned here that loved to fish. Fishing was his life. I was 18 years old when he passed and never had a chance to really get to know him as I could have later in life. My Dads Dad was never involved in my fathers life let alone my own. He was great to me when I'd see him (once every several years) and that made it all that much harder to stomach never having a relationship with him. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago as well. I'm thankful for the days my Dad got to spend with him in the end. I feel like they made huge strides as my grandfathers days become numbered. He finally let my Dad "in" and got to see what a huge blessing he was as a son. There again though, I think that sudden bond made it even harder on my Dad when his Father passed because the reality of never having that chance to have your Dad be involved your life became all too real. There were no more chances. No more opportunities for my grandfather to pass up. He was gone and it hurt us all to realize that we could never get time back and neither could he. When he passed, it was one of only three times when I've ever seen my Father cry. It ripped my heart out. Truth be told, I had a lot of resentment toward my Grandfather for never being the Father he should have been - no matter how many times my Dad tried to reach out to him. To see my Dad hurt so bad over someone that he never truly got to know on a father/son level crushed me. My Grandfather missed out in a bad way. He neglected a relationship with his own son that I think he eventually - on his death bed - came to regret. With my resentment toward him for the pain he caused my Dad also came gratitude though. Many times in my life I have been convinced that my Dad is the father he is to me because of what he didn't get to experience with his own Dad. People have a tendency to follow in the footsteps of their parents many times in life - even when we avoid it like the plaque. You know the old saying..."the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?" Well with my Dad, his apple didn't even fall within the same orchard. He is so completely different from his Dad and for that I am grateful. Because of his pain, he chose to break the mold and make my life different from what he experienced. Thank you Dad!

My Dad's mom is still living but she is in poor health. I rarely get to see her and I many times feel guilty that I didn't take more time to get over and see her on my own when we lived in Indiana. She isn't able to drive or get out on her own and my Dad can hardly get her out of the house when he goes to pick her up and bring her over to my parents for the afternoon. I feel confident that had her life been different and not altered so badly after her divorce from my Grandfather, she would have most likely been an active and involved Grandmother to the best of her ability. Some of my most fond memories as a child are from when my Dad would drop me off at her house and she would babysit me for an evening here and there. When I think of grandparents though, I must say that I think of Cathy's parents most. (Dixie and Densel - dontcha' just love their names together??? It sounds like something out of a children's illustrated story book.) Although they are my step-grandparents, they might as well be my flesh and blood. I've known them since I was 7 years old and they've always been the only grandparents I've really ever known. They were involved in my life and in my children's lives. Kenidi and Papa Willie (Densel) had a serious bond that was a force to be reckoned with. Papa Willie died just a few years ago and I miss him dearly. When I would pout as a kid, he'd look at me and say..."Do we need to get you a suck bottle?" To this day...that line still cracks me up. I'd get so mad at him when he'd tease me and say it when I was little. Now I want to look at my own kids - and have - and repeat his famous phrase with a - - - - eating grin like he always did. Thankfully Cathy's mom - Grandma Dixie - is still alive and lives right across the street from my Dad and Cathy. Myself and the kids get to walk over and visit her and my aunt Patti anytime we are at my Dad's. I love her. She's an amazing woman. Cathy and her sister have never had children so I'm her only grandchild. My kids are her only great-grandchildren. And Densel and her treat us as though we are their blood grandchildren. They would never look at us any differently. I'm so thankful for the love they have shown and given to me over the years. I'm blessed that they were there to help make up for what I didn't have with my maternal and paternal grandparents.

Can anyone tell that I'm pregnant? With all of these emotional posts lately, I might as well just sit a truck load of Kleenexes at my bed side from here on out because I'm such a sap and cry thru all of my writings lately. Someone please stop me! It's pitiful! I got a text that came across my phone from my Dad in the middle of the day yesterday and it simply said "I love you. Papa Anthony." (he was wording it that way because I had previously teased in my Father's day post about him naming anyone and everyone "Anthony" for their middle name. His middle name is Anthony but he goes by Tony.) I read that text from him and then sat on my bed and cried for 30 minutes straight. Daggone pregnancy hormones. That is my Dad though...always making me laugh - and in that moment - cry.

The gist of this post or the moral to this story is that Brennen is spoiled rotten and it's all his grandparents fault. LOL! Seriously though...thank you to my parents, Brent's Mom, and to Dixie & Densel (Pixie and Dixie as my Dad used to always tease and say) for being such ROCK STARS in their "grandparent" roles. I'm a very lucky girl and my kids are very lucky/blessed kids.

Now...you'll have to excuse me...I'm off to go have my tear ducts surgically closed off cry another river. Kenidi is currently sitting here next to me looking perplexed and wiping the tears from my cheeks and repeating the word "hi hi hi" over and over. In her world, "hi" translates to cry. She can't can't pronounce the "c" at the beginning. Geez I love that kid. My forever side kick!

Much love, Angie