An old Irish saying “Children are the rainbow of life. Grandchildren are the pot of gold”. I really had not given a lot of thought to my granddaughter until she arrived with her parents last Friday. As our first grandchild, she was already special and held a special place in our hearts.
But now 20 months old, Delsie is a whole new person. With more energy than the “Energizer Bunny”, and more curiosity than I ever imagined my two sons had, she has blasted a way into our hearts that I never imagined. William Shakespeare noted, “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” Fearless, her short legs have wandered with me holding her small hands along her own pathways into the island. The island is her park.
Along those pathways she has found different kinds of pinecones, and sticks, scratched herself without caring from small branches and laughed as she stumbled over roots and then said “sorry!” as if she had hurt the root in her stumble.
We put up a swing for Delsie that faces the lake. She doesn’t refer to the body of water as the lake, but simply as water. On one of our walks, we ended up at the shore of our property that has a little sand and a lot of small rocks. Hesitant to get into the water, she gingerly picked up a handful of sand and tossed it into the water. She became a little braver walking in ‘til the water was to her ankles and found some small stones to toss further into the lake. A little more adventurous, the water soon crossed her knees and as she reached down to grasp a larger stone, she flopped onto her belly and came up laughing. The larger the rock, the bigger the splash she could make.
She kept the rock throwing up until she tired and then trudged back up to the cabin, totally exhausted.
“God made granddaughters to give our lives variety, and to keep our hearts young. God draped each morning with sunshine and sprinkled each night with song. He hollowed out spaces for laughter and created joys to last long after: then reserved a special place for tenderness when God made granddaughters.” ― Unknown
Delsie has made us feel young again and her constant chatter keeps us on our toes. Later this year she will have a little sister, and will lead her on adventures on the island, expanding their range just as her father and uncles did a generation earlier.
Jim Cumming
Former Publisher
Fort Frances Times