I've mentioned this before, but I consider it such a blessing to still have two living grandparents. My sons have the chance to get to know and spend time with 2 of their great-grandparents on my side of the family - my dad's mom and my mom's dad. Both are still living mostly independently at this time. My grandpa has moved into an assisted-living apartment; he eats his meals in various dining halls on site, but still drives, shops, and does laundry for himself. GP will be 94 in November. He still walks 2 miles a day on the treadmill (6 days a week) and in the years since my grandma has passed away he has written & published 3 books despite struggles with depression over losing his life partner. He's planning to take some computer literacy class at a local college in the spring of 2012.
Each week I try to take Matthew and Nathan for a visit with great-grandpa. He reads books, plays games, and does puzzles with the boys. Even with once a week visits, he seems amazed at how fast the boys are growing up (me too!). He has taken it upon himself to teach Matthew how to use his keys to lock and unlock the door to his room. Matthew really likes that responsibility. The boys enjoy time with grandpa each week, and I hope that even after the baby comes, I'll still be able to keep visiting him. Although he can go out and drive still, he doesn't do it very often. I know that our visits serve as an encouragement to him, and it is a blessing to our family to spend that time with him. It's a great time for all of us!
Oh and I couldn't resist throwing this photo in that I took after we got home from visiting GP recently. A co-worker of Tim's gave us a bin of boys clothes. You-know-who was esctatic to find that there was a pair of "engineer" overalls and a Thomas the Train t-shirt. He's all dressed up and ready to ride the rails!
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