William visits Gramsy and Deda July 2016 for almost the entire month!
Beware. Reading on may find you unexpectedly held hostage to a myriad of my family movies. Now would be a good time to escape if you are not interested in Gramsy’s World. I visit William every 2 months for 2 weeks. That is the penance my dear son-in-law must pay for moving my family so far from our home. He doesn’t mind and I love going. When they visit here, our world is turned upside down for a few frantic weeks of preparation. You can only imagine. “Our Prince is coming!” Above, he is 17 months. Already!
Last summer, when Lauren and Aaron surprised me for my 60th Birthday, I gave them a year to remove all of their belongings from our home. This was the trip where they were coming to purge and hall home what they wanted to keep. Nan, Aaron’s mom was coming with them for the first week, then Lauren and William would stay until the end of the month. We were beside ourselves. When they texted that they were in Leduc, we got the chairs out on the driveway, waited and watched with bated breath having a little silly Gramsy and Deda fun.
There they are!!! Oh, be still my heart!
Little William had been sleeping so deeply that he was shocked awake when the car stopped and very confused. (Still, exceedingly adorable even when confused!)
Gramsy tried to hold him and he reached for Deda, then wanted Mommy. “Put him down and let him find his car!”
The gift that keeps on giving. At four months, at 6 months, last Christmas, and again now. Each time, the car was “new to him” and a thrill. Oh my.
Do you see him holding a rock for dear life? Picasso had a blue phase. William had “a rock” phase. “A rock. A rock. A rock.” He had to pick them up where ever he was and take them with him where ever he went this month. He could not drive without his rock.
Time for the tour. Though William and his mommy and daddy usually only visit twice a year, Gramsy and Deda have been busy since they left in January. For two months we had the remainder of our basement fully finished, building a room for William. We built our home 14 years ago this fall, and finished most of the basement of our bungalow home: two bedrooms, a bathroom and an ample media room. There were plans for the future. There was the “grandchildren’s room” and the bar/kitchenette/games room. I stopped calling the designated alcove the “grandchildren’s room” five years into living here. But, that is what it always was. Once William was born, we knew we must make room for him in our home. Somehow, the work, planning, preparing, scheming and dreaming made the distance between us a little less devastating. As soon as everyone left after the holidays, we began. Now: the unveiling. Above, we have just come down the stairs into the basement.
A little detour to peek at the deacon’s bench. I built one for each of my girls when they were babies, and stripped them both this past Spring. One went home with Aaron for William’s house, and the one above, Gramsy and Deda re-finished and designed to match his room. Oh, what fun it was. I stripped and re-finished furniture with my dad for my University homes, and for my classrooms. It had been so many years, and my dad’s hand was on mine through the entire process. I am so thankful for his many, many lessons. I stripped it; Vanja taped it and I painted it. The design was pure team work. The day William saw his room, this bench was in it. But, as he still sleeps in a crib, we moved the furniture around and put the crib up. Deacon bench relocated until the crib is no longer needed. Yup. It is filled with fluffy stuffed animals, all fresh and clean. I didn’t have the heart to part with anything of the girls. Have always kept their toys for this very moment and the many more to come.
Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom is the guest room and connects to the “grandchildren’s room”, or the newly re-named “William’s bedroom”. The entire group is trailing behind Vanja, Lauren, Aaron and William. Nan, Me, Ragan, and my mom. The door wasn’t big enough to fit us all through to see his reaction, but we heard him.
He was plopped on the floor at the door and stopped to play with the house, then spied the newly re-finished dresser that Gramsy and Deda poured so much love into just for him. Oh, he did not disappoint. He ran right over to it, sleepiness now diminished, and pulled at the colourful handles, finding a resting place for “a rock”.
Below, the photos have been taken after the crib was put up later that day. The dresser moved to where the deacon’s bench was, serving as the perfect place for Gramsy to change a little boy’s diaper.
I love the smell of new. The room still held that smell and welcomed the family into the little room prepared for our grandson. This little room where we hope memories are made and dreams come true. We can imagine him growing here and built it to accommodate every age. There is a trundle bed under the bunk beds and we reinforced the bottom two beds to hold real people, not just children.
Above is the view opposite the crib, or from the crib. To the right, the door back into the guest bedroom that is always mommy’s and daddy’s when they are here. The closet is to the left, and straight ahead is a door that leads into what I call the “Memory Room”. It is a little library and sitting room for nursing, playing, reading, rocking, remembering and dreaming. The crib can even fit in there for future babies that may need to sleep separately from the toddlers. Oh, yes, I want so many grandchildren. Always have. But, if we only every have one, we are blessed.
The Ikea furniture and bins replaced the ice cream tubs filled with the toys that have lived under the stairs for the past 25 years. This little room is a paradise with all of the toys and books unpacked and scrubbed clean.
At the end of the long hall leading into the Memory Room from the other direction is a door from the Games Room. Early every morning, I would sneak down through that door and into his room so mommy could sleep. We would play in the Memory Room and then have breakfast. Come back down to get dressed and play in his bedroom unless it was sunny. Then we would go outside.
Oh, how William loves playing on the top bunk and in the middle “cave-like” bunk. I did too! We had so much fun every morning. Then, he would sit up, look around and say, “Mama! Mama? Mama! Mama?” and would not stop until he pulled open her door and woke her up. Enough of Gramsy. I want my Mama!
When we built the house, they put the electrical in the “Grandchildren’s Room”. We could not believe it. Why not in the furnace room? What were you thinking? One day we missed checking the build, and there it was. It would be $1500 CA to move it, so we did not move it. When finishing William’s room, we had the doors to the cabinet made into a chalk board. Of course, I will have more fun with it that he will. Likely for many years to come.
His bedroom is open to the Memory Room, above. Below, is the Memory Room with Ragan’s Winnie the Pooh (her birthday gift when she turned three) sitting on the little red rocking chair my dad built for me. None of us expected him to sit in the chair and rock, yet that it exactly what he did right after he pulled Pooh off of it and gave him a big hug and kiss.
Above is the other wall of the Memory Room with the door that goes back into William’s room. I have all of my art supplies in the cabinet and that leather chair is the best bargain ever, from Ikea. Exceedingly comfortable and perfect for story time, nursing, bottle feeding and rocking. When I am alone, I will come and sit in this room in the back corner of our basement and dream. Sometimes, I just think and remember…. my dad, and my sister, and Vanja’s mom. On the vintage dresser across from the chair, there are photos of them all with three domes and under each dome is a pair of eye glasses: one from each of them.
Trinkets from days gone by, and photos in old fashioned frames are behind the glass door. A shelf for each person in the family…. and then books of our travels and favourite novels – and the classics.
William at Gramsy and Deda’s July 2016: Picking Raspberries
This was not William’s first drive by picking. I had saved every raspberry on the bush until his arrival, but it was easy, even though they were early this year, as they had just plumped up for picking a couple of days before he arrived. The first morning, William and I explored the back garden, then he ran around the side of the house, pulled on the gate, Gramsy picked him up, and we ventured into the front yard. I plopped him down beside the raspberry bush and pointed to the berries. “Raspberry, William. Raspberry!” He reached out, and the first one needed a bit of help. After that, he got it. “Yummmmm!” We knew he loved raspberries, and it tickled my soul to be standing in my own grandmother’s footsteps (William’s Great-great grandmother) and sharing my raspberry bushes with him, teaching him how they grow and how to pick them. We already knew he loved to eat them, and now he knows how they grow.
William at Gramsy and Deda’s July 2016: Watering Gramsy’s Garden
He learned the same about Saskatoons, black currants, sour cherries, and apples! Sadly, we did not get a photo of Deda picking an apple for William almost daily his last week with us. “Apple! Apple!” Deda would pick a green one for each of them, as they were not yet ripe, and they would both bite into them, puckering up their noses at the tart sour unripened bite, yet keep nibbling.
Nan watered Gramsy’s garden and William was out watering with her. From that day on, every day, he would “water” Gramsy’s garden.
what a fun post. we really had such a fun trip! and we will be back in two days! holy smokes!! william loves his Gramsey and Deda time!
We cannot wait! I will have to do better taking photos that document who is here next time. OXOX