A Baby's Baby
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 05:48PM My niece just had a baby. How strange it is to say it. Or read it. Or type it.
The two of us are just three years apart, so I still see her as my little playmate who was always a key player in our family picture, whether we were celebrating New Year's by dressing up in my mom's fancy dresses or playing with dolls for hours on end.
And that makes my sister a grandmother. Again, looks weird to my eye, but life slides us into these new roles as easily as we slip on a sweater on a cool, spring day. One minute my big sis is taking me to the park to play with her daughter and the next time I look up, she's holding her daughter's baby.
And where does that leave my mom? As a great-grandmother, the strangest of all titles for this terminally energetic, youthful and sharp-witted woman. I still – and always will – see the same woman I remember from my gradeschool days – hair nicely coiffed, bright-red fingernails, dressed impeccably for her trim frame. To this day I have more gray hair than she does, a curse she no doubt bestowed upon me for the trouble I gave her as a teenager.
Her vanity is endearing – her three grandchildren were forbidden to call her "Grandma," a title she equated with little old ladies clustered in knitting circles. To my niece, she was always "Mom." To my two kids, she's "Ema."
I can't wait to see what baby Madison will call her.
Reader Comments (2)
I'm "Ema" calling Kate and I now have a second cousin. Mom's right it is strange to type it. ;) I can't picture my humm humm year old mom a great aunt. I just doesn't register. and Ema a great grand mother. they all get fabulous names! :}
Gee, that is the sweetest tribute ever. It touched Ema and Aunt Ducky to the heart strings. Nice thoughts on a fabulous day for our new tot named Madison Nicole Stevens. What a doll.