A Phone Call from My Daughter-in-Law

One night last week I had a phone call from my daughter-in-law, Pandora. We talked a long time about everything from her going to school to become an LPN to the world events occurring at this time, the disaster in Haiti, etc. She initially had called to thank me for helping them financially since she's not working now and Ryan's income is the only one they have to depend on now.

I really appreciated Pandora's call because it was one of the first times we really chatted a long time about so many different topics. I'm not eloquent enough to really describe or remember all we discussed. However, one of the major topics was the idea that the more education Pandora gets, the better off they will be in the future. Ta Da... that future includes, if all goes well, a child for them and a grandchild for me, Ron and Jill (Pandora's mom). Jill already has 2 grandchildren, but Ron and I have none. Ryan and Pandora had told us at Christmas that they had already picked out names and were hopeful for a girl. One girl's name is Beatrix and I liked the name very much, because of Beatrix Potter. I asked what boys' names they had thought of and one was Thomas Sawyer! I think they were joking about that one. One thing Ryan said that surprised me was that he wanted a little girl because "he thought they were easier to raise". Hummmm.... I was easy to raise because I was "under my parents' thumb" all the time.... cooperation through fear, you might say. In my estimation, however, having boys for children was just right for me. The only thing you have to be careful about with boys is that they take more risks (that testosterone) and people estimate that sometimes boys don't live to be 20 years old because of accidents. The point is, I'd love either a girl grandchild or a boy grandchild, just so long as they have one.

I am grateful that Pandora called me. I know she feels relief about the money issue, but somehow, I feel so much closer to her and after all, that's what being part of a family is all about.