1-12-23, Day 11 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twelve of A Day In My Life! Happy Thursday!

I discovered I was old when our three-year-old granddaughter paused in her hula hoop marathon to check me out as I sat and watched her. She gravely informed me, “Gramma. You’re old.”

When I was a kid, I noticed how little old ladies tinted their white hair blue. I thought it looked pretty. So when, at the ripe old age of sixty-something, I learned I’d become one of them, I decided to own it. The result was a tad more blue than I had imagined. The fact that I didn’t start with white hair might have contributed to the vibrancy of the color.

My blue hair phase lasted until Covid shut the world down. Since I wasn’t going anywhere, I lost the motivation to keep up appearances. No worries. It’s much easier being me when I leave my hair its natural color. Drawing on eyebrows is plenty of maintenance.

Want to know how we wound up with such a large family of kids and grandkids? Well, when a man and woman love each other… No, I am NOT going there.

When Bill and I discovered we loved each other, we each had our own families. I had three children and he had five. We met at a Wednesday Bible study, when our church offered a catered meal at a price we single parents could not ignore. We had nothing in common other than our love for God and our children, and that we enjoyed each other’s company. Our kids went to the same youth group. Their ages meshed, and they got along well.

Before the wedding, we attended a marriage seminar. The speaker, a Christian pastor, said this about second marriages. “If you have teenagers or an adult child living at home, you might reconsider getting married.” His facial expression and the gesture he added to his mild words indicated we should run away as fast as we can. We didn’t.

We had five teenagers and one adult child at home. One daughter was already married, and another was in college. That does add up to eight, right? We ignored the man’s sage advice and spent the next few years in a constant state of drama, laughter, tears, growth, and bonding. Thankfully, Bill and I have a sense of humor and a healthy faith in God, and our union survived.

After a series of weddings, the grand babies came like popcorn: one after the other after the other. Each one precious and loved. Some were added when families broke up and combined with new spouses and their kids. To all of them, we’re Gramma and Grampa. At last count, there were twenty-five of them.

We don’t care how they came into the family. Once ours, ALWAYS ours! The same was true for those kids who came to stay for awhile and moved on to live their lives, related by love rather than blood. We acknowledge and love them all.

I miss the energy of a full house, but relish the peace when only Bill and I are here. We love it when they come to visit, as they do, in waves. If they all came at the same time, we’d have to rent a hotel, or a remote island. Come to think of it, that would be fun!

So now you know why I need spreadsheets to keep track of everyone and everything!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment.
3. Balance our checkbooks. (Didn’t get done yesterday.)
4. Pack ONE bin full of Christmas and put it away, leaving only six more for another day. (Also didn’t get done yesterday.)
5. Do laundry.
6. Make dinner and watch a movie with Bill before turning in for the night.

Still six items on the list. Easy peasy.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org