Birthday catalyzes a timely reflection

Our granddaughter, Emma, turned 15 on January 4. I find it hard to believe that she can possibly be that old. 15! I remember being that age. It really wasn’t that long ago. Even more astonishing, my daughter, Beth, is old enough to have a daughter of that age. When people say that time flies, I agree completely.

It seems like yesterday that I got the news that Beth was headed for the hospital for Emma’s birth. I booked a flight to Texas to meet her. Beth’s in-laws picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at the hospital.

Beth was as glad to see me as I was to see her. Emma was wrapped up like a burrito and was as beautiful as her mother. The time I spent with them was far too short.

A couple of years later when my husband and I visited them we discovered that Emma had an entire herd of My Little Ponies. We played with them every day we were there. She let me know that we were supposed to say the exact same words each and every time we played. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

I showed her how to make a fort by draping blankets over some chairs. She showed me how fast she could run laps from the kitchen to the hallway then through the living room and back to the kitchen again.

We had barely gotten home when Beth called to tell us that Emma had found the animal cookies we had left for her in the pantry.

Beth and Emma visited us here in Indiana a few times. It was wonderful having them all to ourselves. The last time they were here it was for my mom’s funeral. By that time her two little brothers had been born. We loved having the family here even if it was such a sad occasion. It was the last and only time they made the long drive. Work schedules, viruses, and sheer distance conspire to keep us apart.

It seems like yesterday that Emma was playing with the toy Ponies. Now we hear about her latest passions and accomplishments. She has written poems, acted in a school play, ridden real horses, fallen off a horse, painted pictures, shot a deer and learned to swim, among other things. 

So much has changed in the last 15 years. The baby has grown into a young woman. I have always thought that 15 is when girls are at their best. They are still strong and beautiful. Childhood is near enough that they can still play. They have yet to have their hearts broken by someone they trusted. At 15 the whole world is at their fingertips. Everything is possible.

She may take a low paying job or one that pays more than any job I have ever had. She can, and probably will, make mistakes along the way. We all do. 

The world is vastly different than it was when I was her age. Back then our biggest worry was making sure our skirts were not too short or that one of our classes would have a surprise quiz.  If someone brought a gun to school it was because it was new and they wanted to show it off or they were going hunting after school. Nobody even considered that the weapon could be used to shoot people. 

We would have been shocked if anybody had suggested that we pass through a metal detector just to go to school. Masks were for Halloween only and not to help prevent the spread of disease. All those riots and protests that were common way back when I was 15 haven’t accomplished as much as we had hoped. Inequality and discrimination seem to be as rampant as ever. 

The world our grandchildren will inherit is as flawed as we are. Luckily, it is also a beautiful place to be. For every person who is needlessly cruel there are others who are needlessly kind. Emma and her generation will put their own stamp on the world. It is a better place because she is in it.