A Wrinkle in Time

I found myself using one of my teen granddaughters' tricks this morning. When we were visiting at their house late last summer, I would hear, "Put this in the dryer!" shouted down from upstairs, accompanied by a pair of jeans or shirt hurled down to whomever got the message. They were getting ready for school. No, they weren't trying to dry a garment, just de-wrinkle it.

Putting away some laundry this morning, I saw my corduroy pants had come out a little wrinkled, so a little sprinkling of water and a few whirls around the dryer would do the trick. I had asked my husband to put an empty basket on the washer, then it was my turn to yell, "While you're in there, get my pants out of the dryer!" Not quite with the urgency of the hurried school girls, though.

One of them is turning 16 in a few days. In fact, three of our granddaughters are having birthdays this month. I picked out their cards yesterday and laid them on the counter. To the friendly cashier's "How are you?" I told her about the three birthdays.

"How old are they?" she asked, to which I replied, "12, 16, and 23." I was flattered when she looked surprised and said I didn't look old enough to have the older ones. "I would have guessed the 12-year-old was oldest," she said. I mouthed my age to her in a whisper, and the poor child said she had thought me at an age that is 15 years younger than I am!

I wish! Not really, though, when I consider the blessings the years have brought me in children, grandchildren and now, four little great-grandsons! It is my greatest joy to be around them, the little ones, especially. We last saw little Isaac, our youngest grandchild, at Thanksgiving, shortly after his first birthday. Face Time keeps us up with his growth and changes, which amaze me at every peek of him.

We laughed in delight at seeing Isaac open his birthday and Christmas presents via the electronic marvel. It was the closest thing to being there, seeing every expression and antic as he clapped his hands, tore paper, and danced around.

I miss having the energy and vitality of youth! Whether in the sparkle of a granddaughter's eyes as she re-lives an exciting basketball game she played, or a baby's wide-eyed wonder of life, or a child's joy of learning to read, nothing compares to their bright, hopeful, confident outlook! Laundry wrinkles aside, the only wrinkles I will tolerate now are laugh lines and eye crinkles from smiling at moments like these!