My Grandson Called Me The Other Day...

Vonnie Davis

I've been blessed with many things in my lifetime. No, not with riches. Nor with grace of movements. And, heavens, not with good looks either! But with friends and family, my cup runneth over, as they say. My sweetest blessing has been my six grandchildren. All are young adults or teenagers, now, which makes me older than dirt, but we don't need to go there. And as long as Madame Clairol and I are on intimate terms, I can pretend some of those years don't exist.

My grandchildren are scattered, as so often happens. Three live in Indiana and three in northern Maryland. Calvin and I live in southern Virginia. My jewels and I keep in touch via facebook chat, twitter, texting and phone calls.

Ryan after winning his match at 160 lbs.

Ryan, who was born on my fiftieth birthday, is especially good at keeping me involved in his busy life. He's fifteen now and an all-A student, taking honors courses, and a busy athlete with wrestling and track and field. He called me the other day. "Grandma, I saw your name in USA Today online! They wrote about your Christmas novella. What's a novella?" After I explained, I asked him what he was doing reading a newspaper online. It struck me as a little odd for a teenager. "I was eating a snack of rice cakes smothered in honey and chocolate chips and perusing some of the scientific articles." (a math geek, he wants to go into engineering) "I saw the page for books and popped over to see if there might be one I'd like to read. Never expected to see my Grandma's name." The kid sounded both shocked and impressed.

"So what are you reading right now, hon?"

"I'm reading this cool book by Einstein on his theory of relativity. I'd read it over the summer, but wanted to read it again since I'm taking advanced physics this semester. The book's won several awards. Have yours ever won awards?" I laughed and told him they had, but not on the caliber of Einstein's. Ryan gave a typically male grunt. "Writing fiction is different than writing non-fiction, isn't it, Grandma? Don't you have stuff like tropes you have to worry about? And point of view? We talked about that in Honors English." My eyebrows shot up. And I grinned so hard while the two of us discussed writing and literature that my cheeks hurt for several minutes after his call ended.

I asked if there were any books he wanted. My grandkids all know I'll send them most any book they request. Calvin and I work hard to foster their love of reading. Ryan told me about a couple books on quantum physics, and I jotted down the titles so I'd remember them when I slipped over to Amazon to place an order.

When Ryan went to say good-bye, he said, "It was good talking to you, Grandma. Sometimes I just need to hear your voice."

Yep, the kid's a smartie, alright. He knows how to get to grandma's heart. I am so, so blessed.

You can visit Vonnie Davis at her blog ~ www.vintagevonnie.blogspot.com or her website ~ www.vonniedavis.com Her website is currently undergoing construction and is rather messy, but you're more than welcome to stop by and wade through the mess.