A friend recently told me this story about the important role children play in her and her husband’s lives. She said:
“For the last two and a half years I have watched two of our neighbor children, ages 7 and 5 now, who have a heavy, busy schedule as both parents work full time. Their mother once threatened they could not come see me, IF something or other was not done. I asked her not to do that as I felt the children really enjoy coming to us, who treat them like our great grandchildren, which we have yet to have!
“They do not have grandparents here and they give us great joy, but when they come I completely focus on them and always give them options of what we could do during their visit. Sometimes it is something familiar, other times it is an old game we have not played or a book we have not read for a long time. My goal is to have the children be relaxed and happy, partially because they have such a hectic schedule always! They do not have much down time!”
What a wonderful thing it is to connect elders in a community to youth. I greatly appreciate what my friend has to say here, and hope her wisdom can inspire others. She wrapped up her story to me this way:
“I feel blessed to have them in my life and sometimes when one cannot come, the other gets upset if they do not get a special visit alone with my husband and me. Our lives are greatly enriched by their visits and we get to be kids again too — just doing what our little neighbors want to do!”
Andy Smallman 