When Martha passed away, our daughters were concerned that I would just wilt away. They and a friend Katy talked me into getting an Instagram account. I posted what I ate for breakfast and dinner. I posted for a year and had sixty followers. It wasn’t interesting or fun. So, I decided to do videos instead. I opened with Martha’s breakfast on Saturday morning which I had done for her forever. I added a little pep talk verbiage and posted it. The next day I went to 7 A.M. Mass and came home and made fried chicken and waffles for breakfast. I told in the posting that i had prayed for all of them Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, and many others. I heard from some sects that I had forgotten them. I assured them that I had a package deal with the Good Lord and they are included. On Monday morning I posted a rather mundane breakfast and gave them a pep talk about it being the first day on the rest of their life.
Well, my audience increased. Today I have over 58,000 followers, and it is one of the friendliest sites on the internet. But one of the interesting things in how many kids want to adopt me as their grandfather. Many of them because their grandparent has passed away, but a lot of others because they never knew their grandparents.
I in many ways feel their longing. On my dad’s side my grandmother passed away before I was born. My grandfather, although we lived in his house had no close relationship with us kids at all. As a kid I didn’t know this was a problem because you can’t miss what you never had.
On my mother’s side, my grandfather passed long before I was born. My grandmother was loving and interested in us kids, but she lived fifty miles away and we only saw her once or twice a year. I still have memories of those cinnamon rolls she kept in the tin box on her kitchen table.
I made sure this did not happen in our family. Martha and I were very close to our grandkids. In addition, when they got old enough, I had grandpa camp for them every year. They would send me a list of what they wanted to eat, I would teach them how to build and repair things. This has shown up in their adult lives, as all are quite competent.
Today I tell all who ask, they can adopt me as their grandparent. Althou9gh it is on line it is better than not.
