I'm so happy for you! Having a grandchild is a true joy. Your email about finding just the right name for the baby to call you reminded me of our own search for just the right name. My husband, who was from mostly Swedish ancestry, said that he wanted the child to call him whatever the Swedish name is. I looked it up, and I remember so well his negative reaction. It's mormor and morfar, if it were our daughter's child, and farmor and farfar if it were our son's child. That just wouldn't work for someone living in Huntsville, Texas. I liked papa and mama, but Jan (my husband) didn't. We went through the list, just as you have done. He ended up being called Grandpa (and the kids often shortened it to Gramps) and I am Grandma, but very often am called Gran. We have four children, eleven grandchildren, plus some spouses that we claim, and nine great-grandchildren. We had been married 56 years when Jan passed away three years ago. I am so sorry that the newest additions to our huge family won't get to know him, but they will hear plenty of stories about him. It's hard for me to write "was" in that sentence. I hardly think of him as gone. When all thirty or so of us gather, I have a feeling that Jan is there. And I think, like you, that our souls know each other. Perhaps we are far less separate individuals than we suppose.
Lovely piece of writing. Congratulations
Dear David,
I'm so happy for you! Having a grandchild is a true joy. Your email about finding just the right name for the baby to call you reminded me of our own search for just the right name. My husband, who was from mostly Swedish ancestry, said that he wanted the child to call him whatever the Swedish name is. I looked it up, and I remember so well his negative reaction. It's mormor and morfar, if it were our daughter's child, and farmor and farfar if it were our son's child. That just wouldn't work for someone living in Huntsville, Texas. I liked papa and mama, but Jan (my husband) didn't. We went through the list, just as you have done. He ended up being called Grandpa (and the kids often shortened it to Gramps) and I am Grandma, but very often am called Gran. We have four children, eleven grandchildren, plus some spouses that we claim, and nine great-grandchildren. We had been married 56 years when Jan passed away three years ago. I am so sorry that the newest additions to our huge family won't get to know him, but they will hear plenty of stories about him. It's hard for me to write "was" in that sentence. I hardly think of him as gone. When all thirty or so of us gather, I have a feeling that Jan is there. And I think, like you, that our souls know each other. Perhaps we are far less separate individuals than we suppose.
Congratulations!
Nancy Gustafson
What a wonderful story to share. Thank you! And memories never leave us.