Monday, June 29, 2009

For BJ

Upon the flurried tide with cogent eyes transfixed in wonder I see him move, not with grace but with style. Not as shore grass graciously sweeps to the sea but more like a sea lion with the drive of intent toward the prey he moves from one place to the next. Then stopping to raise his hands as if to say “I am the Walrus”, he looks for approval and beams at its recognition. In that tide he strikes the match igniting my heart. He is my grandson, my hero, my love’s intent unrestrained.

Today I Fell in Love

Today I fell in love. It’s not something that is unusual for me. I tend to fall in love several times a day but this was different. As William Wadsworth said in his poem, “She was a phantom of delight when first she gleamed upon my sight,” this was a defining moment. Though I’d seen her many times before today this was the day I really saw her for the first time. What style, grace, what a personality, what a smile. She could make a train take a gravel road.
I’d known her all her life and had always liked her. I saw her first when she was only minutes old and even than she was unforgettable. The first grandchild is always special, so I’m told, and she is. Enthralled, delighted, ecstatic framed my relationship. I am the father of the father so I tend to stand at the back of the baby line but that’s ok. The time that I’m with her has always been special.
Alexsandra Elizabeth Klein is formidable nomenclature for such a tiny imp. Though formal in structure the name fits this little princess. It seems my cognitive process had gotten somewhat out of hand and our relationship, for me, had gotten somewhat analytical. But, today my head went round and my heart stopped. Today it was like I saw her for the first time and I fell head over heels in love. This young lady is my destiny, she is our destiny. In her, as in all grandchildren, are bundled the hopes and dream of a generation that has begun to entrust the world to our children and come face to face with the results of that disposition…grandchildren. Today I fell in love.