A visit with Gram and Pop – SOLSC Day #26

“Do you want to take me driving, Dad?” My oldest asks.

Before I can even answer, the younger two have already stated that they are also going and are calling out their specific seats in the van.  My kids still call their seats.  My son would have to sit in the back, so he decides not to go.

In my mind, I have the perfect place to visit.  “Let’s go to Gram and Pop’s house for a visit.”  And this is met with cheering from the back seat.  The kids haven’t seen my parents (their grandparents) since March 4^th, which might be one of the longest stretches without seeing them in a long time.

We make the two and a half mile drive over to their house.  With every new mile that I drive with my daughter, I feel a little more at ease.  Not completely at ease – I still need an adult beverage after a trip, but it’s getting easier.  While driving over to their house, I send a text to my mom that we were coming.  Obviously, they are at home without a ton going on, so as we pulled into the bottom of the driveway, the front window slides open immediately and there is my mother hugging herself.  She actually knocked my dad out of the way so she could get a better view.  The first thing she tells the girls is that she is hugging herself as if she is hugging them.  She is a real hugger, but because of their age and some health issues (my mom has been a life-long diabetic), we aren’t taking any chances.

So, our family reunion happened on their front lawn.  All four of us (the three girls and I) were gathered on the lawn, and Gram and Pop from the front window.  It was wonderful to see them.  I could tell that they needed a visit, and as we talked about the visit on our way home, it was evident that we also needed a visit.  My poor dad barely got in a word while my mother told us about everything that they have been doing, which is basically eating, cooking, reading, and watching television.  She even took a picture of us on the front lawn to put on her Facebook account (She tagged me.  The picture has hundreds of likes.  I don’t even have 100 friends.  Who knew that she was so popular?).  Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be visiting with my parents through a front window.  It was definitely a sign of the “current” times.

We were about a mile and a half away from their house (my daughter wanted to do some extra driving, so we took the LONG way home), when my oldest daughter said, “Gram and Pop are so awesome.  If I had to live in quarantine with my future husband, I’d kill him.”

The little one in the back pipes in, “Well, Mom and Dad haven’t killed each other yet.”  A huge smile on her face.

And my oldest, mind you has been driving me nuts lately, answers, “Well, they’re like Gram and Pop.  They’re soul mates.”

This made my night.  We may be struggling with the fact that we are confined to our houses without our students, but at the same time, I’m learning so much about my family, and even a bit about myself.