Grandson Jonny

We were there when this young man was born. His arrival had made us twelve grandchildren, and we feel so blessed by them all. He arrived home, and his mom and dad started getting used to having a baby in their family. Soon the nursing, crying, diaper changing, and all that new baby stuff started to be familiar, and we returned to Texas. When Jon was just starting to walk, his mom brought him here to Kerrville for a visit, and we got to watch him take his first steps unassisted. We also got to show them all around the area and ate in several of the great restaurants that are located here.

That summer his mom got a three-week job teaching clarinet at Interlochen National Camp for the Arts and wondered if we would like to bring our motor home up there and take care of Jonny while she taught her students. We decided this would be fun, so we drove up, found a Michigan State Park across the road, and parked our rig there while we took care of Jonny. We had a lot of fun doing breakfast, watching Baby Einstein videos, taking field trips, and wandering all over the place. This is a great music camp, and lots of talented youngsters come for several weeks to learn more about their instruments. Literally, music seems to drift through the woods as the kids practice and take lessons. Well, in the process, Jonny and I bonded, and he really did not want to even go home with his mom or even his dad when he visited on the weekends. It was very touching to me, and his parents also handled this quite well. Somehow, we manage to maintain the bond to this day.

Jonny is going to be very tall, maybe 6' 4'' or more. He is way ahead in his schooling, which will provide many challenges for him, his parents, and his teachers in the future. It will all work out, with patience on the part of all concerned. He knows a great deal about music, since he has been hearing his mom practice since he was conceived. He can tell you he wants Beethoven or Mozart and which piece he wants to have played. When we are there and taking him to school, I pretend to be playing the piano, and he will conduct the music and laugh and say, "Grandad, do it again!" How blessed we are to be involved in even small ways in the lives of our many grandchildren.

P.S. from HW2:
We stayed with Kim and Chuck during the following winter to help with Jonny (almost age 2) when Kim was pregnant with Christian, so the bond between Jonny and his granddad increased. After Christian was born, we were heading to Omaha to help Kristy and Tim move, and we got up early to leave. At the bottom of the stairs, standing there to say good-bye were Chuck, Kim, and Jonny. Chuck softly explained to Jonny that Granddad and Grammy had to leave now. Big tears welled up in Jonny's eyes, and he said, "Jonny go, too?"
We almost stayed!