On Being a Grandpa …

By Guest Blogger David DeCosmo

SPOILER ALERT!

I’m a happy and proud “spoiler.” I’m a grandpa!

I’ve got 6 grandchildren ranging in age from 3 to 20-years-old.Three girls and three boys. If their parents were posting a “Spoiler Alert” it would likely include my photo.

I suppose every grandparent has a built in tendency to spoil their grandkids. I think, in my case, the urge stems partly from the fact that I never knew either of my grandfathers.Both passed away many years before I was born. I have no memories of them. I’d like to believe my grandkids will remember me, with a smile, long after I’m gone.

While I’ve undoubtedly spoiled all of those grandkids, the youngest one is certainly getting the most attention. Anthony David DeCosmo was the first of my grandchildren born after I retired. Unlike my other grandkids, time with him isn’t limited to weekends or vacations. In fact my wife and I watch him every Thursday. We’ve pretty much done that since he was born, so we’ve really had a good chance to watch him as he grows. It’s a special treat for me! I get to play with trains and toy cars and enter into the world of his imagination. Of course sometimes you’ve got to get there by getting down on the floor. The “down part” isn’t too bad but to paraphrase an old Neil Sedaka song, “Getting up is hard to do!”

Much of our time is spent on local playgrounds where I get to push him on the swings, or bend over trying to work the other end of the see-saw he enjoys. It’s also where I find myself giving in to his “wants” a lot. After pushing those swings for what seems to be a very long time, I’ll find myself saying “It’s time to go now.”

“Not yet,” he’ll reply. Or “Just one more time grandpa.”

Sure enough, I’ll keep pushing and we’ll end up staying a lot longer than I ever expected. As I tire, however, I think of a saying I heard not too very long ago.

“Let me love him a little bit more before he’s not little anymore.”

I’ll never regret any of the hours I’ve spent with my grandkids. I’d like to think my grandpas would have done the same with me had they lived.

I’ve got a thousand photos of me with my grandkids.The two I love best feature the oldest, when he was about the age of my youngest, and the youngest as we walk hand in hand. Those photos are separated by many years but I’ve writen the same caption on both of them:

“Don’t worry Grandpa. I’ve got your hand.”

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