Many years ago this morning we welcomed Grant into our family.
One of my favorite memories will always be Matthew being lifted onto the hospital bed and patting Grant gently while saying, “Welcome, Granville Grant.” He had been looking forward to being a big brother for nearly half his life, and he was such a good helper, always ready to “read” to his baby brother!
We were all glad to have Grant join our family. In those days, we lived in an apartment complex where the little courtyard our door opened onto was filled with children playing. We had excellent support from the neighbors and weren’t far from where Tom worked. We would visit Daddy for lunch many days, or walk him home after work. It was a pleasant time.
Grant started out so small: (photo when I get one uploaded)
Over the years, Grant played in the gardens at the college, and finally in our own yard. He went to school, learned fast, made friends, tried new things (decided some weren’t to his liking) and grew.
And grew while he started playing the violin and then the trombone.
And growing up on the water, he grew while he paddled…
Grant is the one in front, Matthew in back.
And grew while he started acting at school and then in a community group and then stage-managed for school plays.
There have been many birthdays, like this one only a few years ago (my handsome boy in the middle, when his hair was long).
And grew while he made friends and became a leader of his peers (ASB president in his 8th grade year!).
And grew while he entered high school and picked up the guitar and began singing and playing in public while waiting for us to pick him up.
And now he’s nearly 6 feet tall, and so grown-up!
He’s kind, funny, helpful, hard-working, fun-loving, smart and talented. He’s handsome. He sings! He dances! He plays musical instruments! He draws! He carves! He knows how to weed, prune and plant!
But don’t order yet, he also does all these amazing things!
He bakes!
He cooks!
He cleans! (with prompting, some assembly required)
He writes! (comes with both poetry and prose, additional genres available)
He swims!
He rides bikes!
He does taekwondo!
He …
You get the picture, I hope.
This child of ours, who started out so small and helpless (only eight and a half pounds), now towers above us and can do anything he wants to. If it takes effort, he does the work. If it takes time, he is patient.
Happy Birthday, Grant.
We are so proud of you.
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