“And, above all, becoming a grandparent offers a chance to love in a different way, a love without the thorny crown of self-interest.
I wish I could say I loved my children that way, but it wouldn’t be true, and it wouldn’t be true of anyone I know, either.”

― Anna Quindlen, Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting

He comes to play, as he always does, on Thursday. He is full of ideas and opinions about how we might spend the day. He and Grandpa play knights and dragons, and I get down on the floor with him to work on the city he is creating in the living room with wooden blocks. After lunch we head outside to rake leaves. The sun is out and it is a perfect autumn day. He and Grandpa rake the same piles over and over. Grandpa always willing to re-rake the piles so he can stomp through them. I watch as the two of them finely scoop the leaves up and put them into the large yard bags. As late afternoon sets in I feel a chill in the air and do my best to heard them inside for a snack. We do a bit of clean up, and get ready to go meet his parent’s for dinner. I am tired, ready to hand him over, but also overflowing with love, knowing I will miss him as soon as we part ways.

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