A MEMORY .....

I was cutting up some ring bologna tonight for a snack with cheese and crackers and my mind was wandering as usual. I don't know why I remembered this so clearly but if I close my eyes I can picture it anew.

My children are small and we are visiting their grandparents, my deceased husband's parents. Grandpa is slicing up some ring bologna and the grandchildren are standing there waiting for the pieces he always cuts for them. But it's the cutting of the bologna and the look on Grandpa's face that I remember the most. It was a look of utter enchantment! I didn't think anything of it at the time but tonight when the memory came flooding back I wondered why I didn't see it then.

Grandpa and Grandma loved those children with there entire hearts. Especially after their son, my children's father, passed away. But the love on Grandpa's face as he cut the bologna for those much loved grandchildren was absolutely beautiful and I wonder now how cutting up bologna can be done with so much love. He painstakingly cut the thin skin off every piece so they wouldn't choke on it and always winked at them as he handed each piece to them. He seemed to gain so much pleasure from doing this simple task for these small ones. In the eyes of small children, Grandpa must have seemed like a giant. I guess I found it strange that this giant of a man would take such great care and reap such pure unadulterated pleasure from this pastime.

This probably doesn't make any sense to anyone who reads this, but it is my memory and I'm tucking it away as a keepsake to tell those grandchildren, my children, when I feel the time is right.