Grandparents Day--1st Grade

Today was nice! In the past few years I have come to realize that few things in life are as important as family--nothing in life can replace the love of a grandchild. That's why today was so important, important for me and important for Emily. Yes, it might just be a couple hours out of our lives, but it mattered--to both of us, and to two other little girls in Emily's class. I went to Grandparents Day not knowing what to expect, and left a better person. I showed up and was seated next to Emily's desk, waiting for lunch and then her teacher began to make the rounds of the room, asking students with Grandparents there to "share" with a child that didn't have a Grandparent there. When she approached Emily and asked, Emily said "yes" (a proud Nana smiled), but even tho Emily chose Trinity to share her Nana with, that still left another little girl at the table without anyone. As we stood to line up for the walk down the hall to the lunch room I leaned over to the other little girl and asked her if she would like to join us also, she smiled (she's missing two teeth right now) and said yes. So Nana Jessie and her "three" girls start down the hall, it's a slow process. Emily's Nana Sharon (Chely's Mom) joins us with Cameron in tow along the way. So now Emily has both Nana's and the other two little girls still just have us. We get our trays, sit down and have an enjoyable lunch. It was actually really good, better than the "school" food I remember from grade school! I get out my phone and we take a few pics of Emily and both Sharon and I and the other girls, I was so proud of Emily for sharing her Nana's. I want to cry now, just remembering how proud she made me feel. It was nothing big, just sitting by someone at a lunch table, but I hope I made a difference today, I feel like I did. After lunch, it was recess time and although Sharon had Cameron she went to the playground with us and stood by as I "played" with the girls. Not only did I have the three girls in tow, I picked up some along the way. The kids were amazed that I could "do" the monkey bars (hey, I missed the final one, but that's pretty good, no other Grandparent was out there doing that), and several kids came up to me after and asked "why did you do that"? I answered "because I could"! Then we continued to go down the "big" slide, hula hoop, etc..... the recess ended with Emily clinging to me, not wanting me to leave and me finally saying that I had to, walking away and turning to see not only Emily but several of the other kids waving to "Nana" as she walked away!! I'm not going to lie, I felt really good, knowing that hopefully I made a difference today.