Pay It Forward #7: Make time for the people that matter most to you

This is the den I spent much of my childhood in.  It is in my grandparents' home.  I have so many memories in this room and each Thursday, I have the opportunity to make even more.  Every week, the girls and I drive 45 minutes and visit two of my favorite people in the world - Walter and Clyde, my maternal grandparents.  I am lucky enough to have all four of my grandparents still alive...a gift that becomes more special with each passing year. 

I have learned some of the most important lessons in life from these two people.  For the seven years we lived in Kansas City, I rarely got to see them, but five years ago, we moved back home and I was within an hour of where they live.  Relief is what I felt...I was not going to miss any more special occasions and I could see them whenever I wanted.  I forgot that life tends to get in the way of our best intentions.  About two years ago, I realized that I might as well have lived a couple states away for the amount of time I was spending with them.  I felt panicked by how much time I had wasted.  So I resolved to do better.  Each week, I sit with them in this room, that is as familiar to me as it is to them, and we talk...about everything.  I have learned more about the lives my grandparents' have led in the past two years, than I ever knew before. 

Grandpa Walt and Grandma Clyde are 95 years old now and have been married 72 years.  They are beautiful people.  And I have given myself a gift in spending more time with them.  And I have given my girls a gift by giving them the opportunity to make their own memories in this wonderful and familiar place.  My hope is that they learn some of the same lessons from them as I did and their memories of Grandma and Grandpa are as long-lasting as mine have been.  

Keep sharing the love...it's so worth it : )