Grandpa Jerry, 1986

/

My stepdad, Jerry, would have been 76 years old today if he hadn't passed away May 29, 1995.

I love this photo of him and my mom — whom many of you know here as Ann — from a December 1986 holiday celebration.

my stepdad 1986

He was a good man.

Happy birthday, Grandpa Jerry — as he was (and still is) known to my girls.

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

The thing I loved most about 1986 was _____________.

Disneyland 1994

/

Dear readers: "Throwback Thursday" (#TBT) is a popular Internet meme. This is my first time participating... and I just might continue (#TBD).

I recently shared with you photos of my grandsons' visit to Disneyland and the beach with their mom and dad just after Christmas.

The throwback part: Twenty years ago this week, our three daughters made the very same visit with Jim and me, as you can see here (along with my big hair and mom jeans and Jim's...

Read More

Holiday highlights... in passages and pics

/

It was quite indescribable. It was like what happens when you shake a kaleidoscope. The parts of it are the same parts, but they are arranged differently; they are arranged in a new pattern...
~Agatha Christie "The Water Bus"

family at Christmas 

They err who thinks Santa Claus comes down through the chimney; he really enters...

Read More

The Christmas Eve eve GRAND Social link party for grandparents

/

I find it hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Even harder to believe is that I think I'm ready for The Big Day except for a bit of this and that, meaning stocking stuffers and such.

Prepared for Christmas

The final prep was the focus of my weekend. I did the last of my gift and grocery shopping on Friday. Jim, Brianna and I enjoyed a holiday visit with...

Read More

The more things change: 10 ways my Christmas has long remained the same

/

Now that the nest has emptied, home, family, Christmas and more are far different than they were in the past. The more things change, the more it matters that some things remain the same, things such as the following.

10 ways my Christmas has long remained the same

Christmas treeThe Christmas tree — Regardless of all the ornaments my daughters accumulated through the years then took with them when they moved into their own places, our tree always — somehow — continues to look the same every single year. (And our cats...

Read More

Grandma's secret revealed

/

I told you not long ago about a group I belong to, a group that has a secret. Today I'll come clean, for I've finally been given permission to do so.

boy telling secret

That group I belong to — that one in which all members agreed we'd keep the secret a secret but I'm the only one who didn't tell a single soul — is my immediate family. We were all sworn to secrecy...

Read More

What being a grandma looks like in my world

/

Those of us with grandchildren all share the same title: grandparent. Though we share the title, what being a grandma or grandpa really looks like for each of us is, like the names our grandchildren call us, unique and crafted to fit our individual worlds.

Here is what being a grandma looks like in my world:

toddler in mom's bootsMac wears Mommy's boots.I'm known as Gramma to my only two grandchildren, Bubby, age 5, and Mac, age 2. One of the top defining traits of my grandma experience is...

Read More