I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time on Facebook lately. Reading the status updates of old friends and classmates provide some quiet entertainment for me on my iPhone while I’m nursing Baby Champuru. (Yes, I’m still nursing Baby Champuru — but that’s another blog entry entirely.)
One such status update from a schoolmate (1 year younger than me) made me do a double-take.
SOON MY GRANDBABY WILL BE HERE!!!! MY HUSBAND AND I ARE SO EXCITED TO BE HAVING OUR FIRST GRANDCHILD:)WHAT A BLESSING SHE WILL BE!!!
Did I read that right? ”Grandchild?” Oh, my goodness. She is in her mid-30’s and already a grandma? Of course, I know it’s physically possible, but here I am just getting started with my 1-year-old daughter and my classmate is already having grandkids. The realization that someone younger than me was having a grandchild was difficult for me to wrap my head around. I have always felt young but I am starting to realize that I can’t deny that the days of my youth are waning. But truly, it’s a malady that afflicts us all. So, I must remind myself of the words of Mark Twain:
“Age is an issue of mind over matter.
If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
~Mark Twain
Another interesting realization is that I will be (I better be!) at least 53 before I earn the title of grandma. (When Baby Champuru turns 18. Don’t do the math!) :)
This blog entry really hits home with me. When I started to reconnect with people from high school (I went to a small elementary & high school on the Big Island so I’ve known many of the students besides my own classmates), I found out my classmates as well as those in classes below me already had kids either ready to graduate or in collect. Also, one of my classmates told me another classmate was a grandmother already! There were people I went to school with since kindergarten. I have one classmate with 5 kids (1 already graduated college)! I also found out I am not the only one who had a baby last year, so I don’t feel too weird. One of the male classmates I grew up with just got married and had a child. I guess there is no norm nowadays. People get married later in life sometimes, they also sometimes have children when they are old… you just never know. I couldn’t predict I would have a baby at 40! But just like you, I don’t want to be a grandmother before Chris or Jack reach their 18th birthday.