Stories entertained middle grandchild

I’ve never held a baby before, nine-year-old Jacob said of the nine-day-old infant that was placed in his arms. He beamed down at his perfect new cousin.

I have never seen him smile so wide in apparent awe and delight. The baby slept, not caring which of us was holding her. Jacob asked a question that should not be asked by one so young. Will she still be my cousin if those two break up? He grinned when told that she would always be his cousin, no matter what.

After he reluctantly gave the baby back to his mom, he came over to me. With wonder in his voice he told me that the child had stuck her finger in his nose. I advised him to not tell the mother. I loved the care and concern in his voice and thought to myself that he will be a good daddy someday in the distant future.

This is the same boy who came running to save the day a few days earlier when his sister, Emma, found a snake in the henhouse. The snake was about as big around as a pencil but neither of us was willing to have anything to do with it. Instead she called her brother for backup.

Jacob willingly inspected the entire chicken enclosure before proclaiming it to be snake free. It was only after Jacob said it was safe that Emma finished watering the two chickens.

Jacob is a boy of many talents. Facebook posts reveal that he, his brother, and another cousin, (not the baby) had gone fishing over the weekend with their other grandfather, affectionately called Pappy. Jacob caught the most fish and also the biggest catfish of the day.

Although my own grandfather was an avid fisherman, going up to Put-In-Bay every summer with his friends, I seldom fished with him as I was too young to go. We did manage to fish in the creek a few times before a series of heart attacks put an end to that.

One evening while we were in Texas recently for a visit, Jacob curled up in my lap and asked for a story. I was very aware that was probably the last time I would get to hold him. I told him the story of his great-great-however many great-grandfather on my grandfather’s side.

His name was Charles Edward Garner or maybe Edward Charles Garner, I forget which. Had Jacob ever heard of the Civil War? Nope. The war between the states? Again, nope. What are they teaching these kids?

Anyway, I told him that the guy went by Ned. He joined Company K in Ohio. One day the adversaries were engaged in a brief lull in the fighting. A confederate soldier tossed his hat on the ground and tried to pick it up as he galloped by on his horse. He missed. Ned easily picked up the hat when it was his turn. This impressed Jacob.

I also told him that Ned was shot in the leg in a Tennessee battle. He was taken captive and later died at Andersonville prison. Had Jacob ever heard of Andersonville? Of course not! Ned died mere months before the war was over. He died of dysentery. Then I had to explain was dysentery was.

I expected a yuck but instead Jacob told me he was related to some cool people. Maybe next time I’ll tell him about the troubadour and the Italian princess. Unlike Ned’s story, that one has no documentation.

Jacob is a middle child, with all that implies. He is adorable, like his siblings. Every year that passes they grow farther away. Once in awhile, I get to hold them even though they are too big to be held. As long as they let me, I intend to cuddle them and fill their heads with stories of long ago. But no matter how many stories I tell I will always be the bread dough grandma who lives far, far away.