I became a grandmother for the first time nine years ago. I was only 37 years old. Much too young to be a grandmother!!
The pregnancy was no accident. I was informed well ahead of the event. I had tried to convince my then 18 year old daughter Pam to wait until she was older to have a baby, but there was no changing her mind.
A part of me was disappointed -- she should be in college, not have a baby in diapers. She should be backpacking across the country, not wear a baby backpack. She should settle down and get married first, not be an unwed mother.
But another side of me completely understood her need to have this child.
She had lost her two favorite grandparents, my Mom and her Dads dad at the age of 8. Then I was diagnosed with cancer when she was eleven. Her teacher had told her (during my chemotherapy treatment) that he didn't understand why someone with cancer would go through chemo "since most of them will die anyway." Yeah, he actually admitted he said that!
When her other grandmother died of breast cancer just 6 months after my diagnosis, and her Dad died of inoperable lung cancer 6 months after that, she was SURE I was going to die next. So she began to pull away from me. I guess she figured if she didn't feel close to me it would hurt less if I did.
But I knew there was this NEED for her to have someone -- someone to love, someone to love her, someone who wouldnt die and leave her.
How could I argue with that ??
So I promised myself I would be there for her.
Now, Pam may have been ready to be a mother but I was in no way ready to be Grandmother!! My other children were only 5, 6, 8 and 10 years old. I even begged her to come up with a name other than Grandma for the baby to call me. Yuk!
Incredulous, she said, Thats what I called my Grandmas, so thats what she should call you.
So I resigned myself to that less-than-appealing title.
Now, almost 10 years later, I will have the privilege and pleasure to become a grandmother again. Yes, now happily married and no longer fearing my demise, Pam is again pregnant. And I have no qualms about being a grandmother anymore!!
My sweet and spunky granddaughter Tayler has been such a joy in my life! Almost as much as her own mother was! She was also the catalyst to bring Pam and I close together again.
Oh, and it doesn't hurt that my own children, now 14 through 20, are quite self-sufficient and will be on their own in the not too distant future.
Now, each time I hear Tayler call me Grandma, I know that I, too, have someone to love and who loves me. So go ahead, call me Grandma.
Im more than ready now!!

Jen U Jen Ulasiewicz:
Vintage Lace be paper
Old Clock face
Old Document
Shabbier Chic Frame
Pickin Wildflowers bouquet, dried leaves

Tangie Baxter
Threaded Ribbon green
Autumn Forest Floor gold branch
Spring Forest Floor glitter leaves

Mikkel Paige:
Diamond Shapes butterfly
Pulled Ribbon gathered ribbon
Ribbon Waves folded ribbon

Gisela B.
Winter Fairy Tale feather
Fresh lace
Joy flower, purple ribbon
Nature calls fern

Kathryn Wilson:
Perfect paisley Journal paper
Ribbon Folds purple ribbon

Jofia Devoe:
Fallen splatters
Ephemerals wings/feathers
Flowermania flowers

Annie manning Paint the Moon:
Charmes DAtan- pressed orchids, 1600s letter, handmade paper bird
Perfect day cream bow

Natalie Braxton:
Stitched Blooms
Beau-ti-ful Flowers

Melgen: Net Set border

Emily Merritt: Pretty lace

Creative Victorian: Gold key

Amy Hutchinson Ah! Designs: Flower Boughs Dogwood branch

Doris Castle: Garden variety baby's breath

Sennahs Flowers

Sabdesbois: rose

Jessica Gorny: Just Because daisy

Sausan Designs: Pressed Flowers hydrangea, lavender

Sedminkaska daisies

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