Iron Pol

On my desk at work, I have two pictures of my kids.  The first is a picture of my children near the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  It is one of those rare pictures I feel really captures a moment.  Siblings at peace, sharing and having fun.  As an added bonus, it's in focus and has decent lighting.

In time, it is one of those pictures that will become a treasured image.  And I am sure my kids will become very familiar with, if not sick of the picture as it shows up time and again in presentations.

The other picture is from the same day.  And it ranks among the best pictures I have ever taken.  The image of my son walking on the beach barefoot with his grandfather in his suit is classic.  The moment I saw the picture on the computer, I made several copies to ensure it would never be lost.

It is the kind of picture my son will be able to look at in the future and remember the wonderful man who is his grandfather.  And my prayer is that my kids will have many years to develop even deeper bonds with all their grandparents.

My only memories of grandparents are vague pictures of my mom's dad and my dad's mom.  My other grandparents passed away before I could know them.  Even so, both grandparents made an impression upon me.  To this day, I have jewelry items my grandfather made.  Though they are items I will likely never wear, they are a connection to a man I saw less of than I might have wanted.

Rules that existed in my grandmother's house are used in our house, today.  While modified for use with toddlers, some of her wisdom guides me in my parenting.  And where distance kept me from knowing my grandfather better, my grandmother passed away shortly after we moved back to my dad's hometown.

There's just something about grandparents.  Obviously, we all know that becoming a grandparent changes people.  After all, most parents have faced the situation where they have to ask what happened to the people who raised them.  Watching my dad with my kids shows the great impact grandkids have had in his life.  He will jump through some pretty amazing hoops for his grandkids.  One day, I'll have my daughter ask him to go swimming with her.  I've always wanted to see him in a swimsuit.

The value of family is amazing.  Sadly, it usually requires the prism of history to allow people to see that.  That's why I am glad for moments like the ones shown in these pictures.  They are opportunities for my children to see just how much they are loved.  Armed with that knowledge, they will be much better equipped for anything the world throws their way.