A New Life! Retirement at its Best 26

Hanging out with my Grandson

Last weekend all activities in this area were cancelled because of snow earlier and black ice. So all the plans of the de Jong family were deferred to the following weekend, but then they were added to the commitments of that weekend, and that did not all work. That Saturday, the two older boys had auditions with trombone (2) and trumpet for the regional bands and the jazz band, all the way in Greensboro. Their mom took them and had to leave at 5:30 a.m. to make the first audition. Dad had an all day rehearsal in Raleigh for the Sunday performance of the Chamber Orchestra and had to leave at 8:15 a.m. That left a very boring day for the youngest grandson: he had to go along with his brothers with nothing to do all day than hang around. But then there was OmaRon!

We had not been able to celebrate Grant’s 8th birthday because of snow and ice, so I still had his present, and we decided we would spend the day together. I left my house at 7:45 a.m. with the birthday gift and a Dutch treat, picked him up at his house and took him to his basketball game at the Apex Community Center. I learned a few things: for little kids they lower the basketball backboard and net and I think the court is shorter. Those kids could run! And score! It was an important game against a team they had not defeated before, but they did now, with 32 against 23.

When we got home, two girls pushing a cart were on the front door steps. “Hi there, can we help you?”
“Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?” one of them said and showed us a list. It was rather early in the year, I thought. Usually I would have to order them and they would drop them off at a later date. We had always bought a few boxes from our granddaughter in California, who then would save them in the freezer until we visited her again.
” Do you have them with you?”
“Yes, we do.” That was an advantage, for them and for us. I selected one box and Grant pointed at another kind, “That is one Mom always buys.”
“Do you have change for $20?” And then the two mothers, who had been waiting at the curb by the car, came closer and produced change.

A lucky day for all, but it was cold and we quickly went inside. Next, we took the dog for a walk. But it was very cold and windy, so we did not go as far as we had planned. Back home, Grant took a shower and then he made us both a mug of hot chocolate. It was hot and delicious. We sipped it sitting on the stools at the kitchen table. Then he climbed down and got a plastic tube out of the fridge, which he tore open at one end and started sucking. “What is that?”
“Soft yoghurt.”
“Really? What flavor?”
“Berry.”
“Does berry taste good with hot chocolate?” A shrug.
“I am sucking it to make my mouth cool off, so I can drink the hot chocolate. It is very hot you know.”
“Yes. But what you could also do is put an ice cube in the chocolate.” Ah, that was a good idea. He climbed down from the stool again and got an ice cube, then took another sip of the chocolate. But the ice cube got into his mouth without melting, and so he had to get another one. We decided we would leave the Dutch stroopwafel treat for later that afternoon because we were first going for lunch to Chick-Fil-A, his favorite place, where he knew exactly what to order. 6 chicken nuggets with fries and a small chocolate milkshake. I decided on 6 baked chicken nuggets and a similar milkshake. Delicious. When we had finished he neatly collected all the discarded items in the bag and took it to the waste basket. Then he went to was his hands and waited until I had washed mine, and then we went in search of the movie theatre.

Even with my navigation system, and even though the theatre was supposedly on the same street, we could not find it. We asked twice, and then found out we had to go to the next shopping center with the same street name, up the hill and down the hill and around the traffic circle. And there it was!

We went to see the movie Paddington 2. I had heard the name Paddington but was not familiar with the character. It was a very enjoyable movie, with lots of laughs, some harrowing moments, a few moving scenes, and a happy ending. We had mutually agreed not to get popcorn and a drink after our lunch, and had a wonderful time watching the show. I must admit that I dozed off several times, but I caught at least the beginning and the end, and several adventures in between.

When we came home his Dad was home early, and after Grant had opened his gift and enjoyed his stroopwafel we hugged goodbye and I drove home, arriving just in time for our dinner at the Club. What a day! Mike had enjoyed a peaceful, relaxing day, just the way he wanted, and I had spent an active day hanging out with my grandson. A joy I had not known before.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

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