A Great-Grandmother's Wisdom

My grandfather died when my children were too little to remember him. And my wise grandmother wants to make sure her great-grandchildren know about their great-grandfather.

He had a little workshop and tool shed in the back yard where he made the most marvelous things, and he could fix (repair) anything!

While we're on our "field trip", she asked us to come over so that my children could choose something from that shed to keep.

So, we headed over there on a sweltering August afternoon and she spent a good hour in that shed with two of my kids. The third wouldn't go in -- too cramped, hot and crowded, I suppose, very overwhelming. (I didn't want to go in, either, after we opened a door and discovered a snake skin right at the threshold!).

There are lots of nails, screws, nuts, and thingamajigs that hold stuff together in there. I enjoyed watching all of them search the shed and make discoveries. My grandmother told them about a lot of the items the kids picked up to examine, sharing memories of my grandfather with my children. She gave them more than a tool. She gave them a precious gift of memories, a piece of their great-grandfather. The sibs chose a tool for the princess who refused to enter the shed so that she would have something.