One of the benefits of retirement has been to spend more time with our grandchildren. Vicki and I have been especially connected to Sonja’s two girls, Sailor and Skipper, these last few years. Sonja has needed our help. For most of the time since Sailor’s birth in 2021, we’ve been on once-a-week babysitting duty.
I have been most attached to Sailor, while Vicki, by necessity, has spent more time these last two years attending to her younger sister. Not bragging here, but it’s well known to Sonja, J.B. and Vicki that her silly “Morfar” – a Scandinavian term for “mother’s father” – is Sailor’s fave.
On Saturday, May 23, I was released from University of Washington Hospital following surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on my right kidney. Sonja decided to swing by our house with the girls to see how I was doing. Unfortunately, I still have this drain from my incision that I have to keep for awhile.
“This bulb here collects the blood from my ‘owie,” I told Sailor as she approached me.
Sailor put her head down and started to shake. She was visibly upset. She finally looked up and said “I cry for you, Morfar.”
I just thought that was such an interesting – and obviously touching – way to express her feelings. It revealed a sensitive, empathetic side to Sailor. It also signaled a strong bond between a 4-year-old girl and her Morfar.
Relationships can’t grow without the investment of time. I am so grateful for the many hide-and-seek games, the ball-catching (to see how many the two of us you can catch in a row!), the storybook readings, the toy tower building and piggyback rides I’ve enjoyed with Sailor. Those all add up.
My growing relationships with my grandchildren in retirement has truly been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of my life.
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