"There's nothing like it."
"You will love it."
"You will fall in love like never before."
Those are words others used to describe grandparenting to me before I became one.
I've been pondering how to describe why this grandparenting is like no other love. It took me a year to be able to pen words that seemed to make sense about this love, this grandparent love. It is a different glimpse at love.
I can't say it's stronger. I can't say it's fiercer.
It's all I was for my kids and something more, and yet it's all I couldn't be for my kids. It's the best of me for her: my moments, my thoughts, my inclinations.
It's being drawn toward awe in a simple pleasure.
It's purpose and passion magnified without parent pressure.
It's flawless: seeing the shine, not the smudge; the sugar, not the sour.
It's the humble trust to comfort. It's working to the truth through the tantrum: silencing the pain by bandaging the hurt, hugging the sorrow, and rocking to a calm together.
It's seeing beyond the veil, seeing wonder in each new step, praising the fail because it started with a try.
It's stepping beyond the clutter of life, the mess, the dirt, the troubles to rest in middle of right now joy and dance with whatever balance and rhythm you have.
It's slowing the storm of life to a pace of breathing.
It's discovering joy from being greeted with a smile, kiss, and hug for simply walking through the door.
It's seeing the hope in a future.
For every story my musing metaphors represent, this grandparent love is my openhearted surrender to a divine journey of seeing with a tender heart.
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