When Grandparents Have Your Back

When Grandparents Have Your Back

Yesterday I spent the day with our two year old grandson. He loves his cowboy boots and insists on wearing them with shorts, sweatpants or even just his diaper. Like most two year olds he is constantly on the move.

“Nana, up a stairs,” he says.

And so I follow him up the stairs, close enough to catch him if he falls, but far enough behind to make him feel independant. During the course of a day we might go “up a stairs” and back down five or six times.

When he goes down the stairs he sits down and scoots, which reminds me of my own grandmother.

Grandma Layne

Grandma Layne was in her 80s by the time our twins came along. Our bedrooms were upstairs and she lived downstairs. She couldn’t carry both the boys downstairs but when they started walking she could sit between them and scoot with them one stair at a time.

The mental image of my 82 year old grandmother scooting down the stairs between our twins is a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I knew my Grandma Layne had my back and those of her great-grandchildren, too.

Got Your Back

When I was young I had no idea what it meant for someone to “have your back” and I suspect at least some of my grandchildren don’t know either. I decided to look up the official meaning and this is what I found…

To be willing and prepared to help or defend someone.

To support and assist someone when they need it.

To be ready to protect or defend someone.

To provide loyalty and trust in difficult or dangerous situations.

More about the phrase here.

My Parents had my back too

Both of my parents left this world too soon. Mom at age 51 and Dad was 65. I remember thinking that navigating life without them and comparing the feeling to a circus performer walking a tightrope without a net beneath them. They were always there for me and when they got got sick, mom with cancer and dad with an aneurism I tried my best to be there for them as well.

Life

Life is a rollercoaster with ups and towns and twists and turns. At times we just have to hang on tight and lean on God to get us through. There is no way we can protect our children and grandchildren from everything life will throw at them but one thing is certain.

As long as this Nana lives, I’ll have their back.