How to survive being a long-distance grandma to a baby

How to survive being a long-distance grandma to a baby

I first fully grasped the definition of the word 'bittersweet' in late 2007, when I learned I was going to be a grandmother. I was thrilled to have a grandbaby on the way, but it literally hurt my heart to know I'd be only a minor player in the baby's daily life, due to how far away my new grandchild would live.

Yes, I was a long-distance grandma from the get-go. I’m still a long-distance grandma to the one who first made me a grandmother. To his two brothers, as well.

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Take me to church: Small steps toward normalcy plus baby Robert’s baptism

Take me to church: Small steps toward normalcy plus baby Robert’s baptism

Jim and I have attended Holy Cross Lutheran Church for about 35 years. Not every single Sunday during that time but certainly more often than not.

That all changed in March of 2020. For exactly one year we didn’t walk through the doors of church one single Sunday. Or any other day, including my pre-Covid monthly volunteer shift in the food pantry.

Thanks to Covid—and my immunocompromised status thanks to my MS medication—our church attendance was restricted to …

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Our final grandchild!

Our final grandchild!

He’s here! He’s here!

Our final grandchild has arrived!

Introducing Robert Allen, son of our oldest daughter Brianna and her husband Patrick, baby brother to Benjamin and James.

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