Eleven years ago, before we had retired, we took a week’s vacation, bought plane tickets and flew from Rapid City to Seattle. At Sea-Tac Airport we caught a shuttle bus south to Olympia. A February trip was unusual for using those days, but the church had completed its annual meeting and we had been planning for some time to make it to our first grandchild’s first birthday. I can remember quite a few details about the trip. We had a wonderful time. The previous year we had spent quite a bit of time in Olympia. It had been a sabbatical year for us and the year had been filled with intensely emotional events including the death of my mother, the birth of our first grandchild, the death of Susan’s father, and the wedding of our daughter. Drawing up the annual budget for the church had been a grueling process, prompted in part by a less successful annual pledge drive caused in part by a last-minute change in the plan for the conduct of the drive that occurred while we were away on Sabbatical. We returned to a new plan and insufficient time to execute it properly. Our plan for coverage during our sabbatical was altered during the year due to the illness of the person who was covering for us. It was a year of plans not working quite the way we had imagined. When February of the following year rolled around, I was eager for a break.

Olympia provided just what we needed. There is a delightful wooded walking trail near the house where our son and his family lived at that time. The massive cedar and Douglas fir trees filtered and deflected the rain so it was just a gentle drip, drip, drip. The ferns of the undergrowth were shimmering with water drops. It smelled wonderful in the woods. And the birthday celebration was a delight. Our grandson’s other grandparents were there and my sister and her son drove up from Oregon to join the celebration. We had a wonderful time and when we returned to work we were more refreshed than we had been following our sabbatical.

We were looking at the pictures of that trip yesterday as we waited for our two granddaughters to arrive by school bus. It was a short school day with an early release and we were gathering for another birthday celebration early in the day before our son had to head off for an evening meeting. The bus was a few minutes late and as we waited we had a conversation about possible reasons for the delay. The day before, Wednesday, there had been a fire in Blaine Middle School. That school is in the district where we live, but not in the district of our grandchildren. The fire was small and extinguished by the school’s automatic fire sprinkler system, but the kitchen had to remain closed for the rest of the week, causing the school district to divert resources from other tasks to prepare and transport lunches to the middle school. Then yesterday, a Whatcom Transit Bus, with passengers aboard had hit a power poll and downed power lines cutting off power to hundreds of homes and five schools, including the middle school our grandson attends. We didn’t know the details of the accident at the time, but it turned out that the bus driver had to be transported to the hospital and a busy street had to be closed for several hours following the accident.

None of those things had caused any problems for our granddaughters or their bus driver and they arrived safely just a few minutes later than usual. They hopped off the bus eager to begin the celebration.

We had two cakes, because we now have two grandson who share the same birthday. One turned 12, the other turned 1. A first birthday is a fun celebration and there were lots of presents. In addition to the two boys, we had Susan open presents for her birthday which is the day before the boys’. The one year old had gotten the hang of ripping wrapping paper from the presents. He especially liked tissue paper, which tears easily. I recognized one of the gifts when he opened it. It was a brightly-colored set of stacking cups. They looked very familiar. In fact they were the toy that my sister had brought for the celebration of his brother’s first birthday eleven years earlier. As families do, the toy had been put into storage when his siblings outgrew it and his parents had decided that a few well-loved toys in good shape could be repurposed for this birthday. The stacking cups were a hit. All of the older siblings could remember playing with them. It seemed like a family tradition to have those toys available for the celebration. The one year old was delighted.

When it was time to share the cake, his parents showed off more of their experience. An unfrosted angel food cake was placed in front of the one-year-old. He was delighted to be able to tear off bits of cake and no one had to clean up frosting mess. His 12-year-old brother was also delighted to be able to tear into a cake and eat with his hands. A second cake was provided and sliced for those of us less inclined to rip off chunks of cake and stuff them into our mouths.

A fun day with new experiences combining with memories. As we grow older the layers of memories are rich for us. One of the treats of retirement is that we have been able to be present for more birthdays. This birthday carries the memory of last year when the new grandson was born on his brother’s 11th birthday. That occasion will be remembered in stories for the rest of their lives. Grandparents are amazed at how quickly the years pass and how dramatically the children grow.

Today might be a slightly less dramatic day. I don’t yet know. Whatever comes I will continue to bask in the joy of having family close and children present in my daily life. I am indeed fortunate.