Do It NOW Grandma, Do it NOW!

Always a skeptic, even with my beloved Grandma, I watched and patiently waited for an inopportune time…A time when I knew she had not secretly staged the “magical “part of her trick. So, this day side by side at the kitchen sink, Grandma with her hands deep in sudsy Palmolive dish soap, and me with a damp towel wiping off food crumbs that she missed, I knew, THIS was the perfect moment! With a challenge resounding in every syllable I demanded….. “Do it NOW grandma, Do it NOW!

Grandma was a lady, a gentle sweet soul, but nobody’s’ dummy! Her eyes twinkled completely understanding the challenge and my precise timing. Feigning irritation and showing me her sudsy hands she replied, “NOW? It has to be now?

“Yes”, I demanded with a smug lift of my 10 year old chin. Now!

As we made our way over to the phone, I secretly hoped that grandma was as magical as she seemed to be…SO connected, SO aware and SO very sensitive. A relief to a granddaughter who needed understanding.

From as early as I can remember, I seemed to sense things about people that confused me. Their words sometimes didn’t seem to match what they were thinking. I often saw pictures, like little videos in my mind that would eventually play out in real life. I knew when someone was hurting, because, I hurt too. I even heard what I called ‘love thoughts’ between 2 people as they looked at each other. I didn’t discuss this with anyone, but when Grandma looked at me, I think she knew… always knew that I shared her gift.

So, pulling up two chairs, we sat in front of the desk with the focus on the phone. “Ok Barbie, who would you like it to be? “ Aunt Fern, Grandma!…make Aunt Fern call!”….With a sweet smile reflecting my adoring and anxious eyes, Grandma nodded. “Aunt Fern it is!”

With a deep breath Grandma relaxed and closed her eyes…Softly I heard her call her sister’s name over and over…My heart seemed to thud with each second that passed….I wanted SO badly to KNOW that Grandma was like me…I was NOT alone, that being different was as cool as Grandma….45 long seconds passed when the shrill sound of the phones of the 70’s, jolted me from my seat. YES!!!, but wait….we haven’t answered it yet…

My favorite part of the story is this….As Grandma lifted the phone off the cradle and put it to her ear, she turned her smiling, sassy eyes to me and confidently answered….”Hi Fern, glad you called.” Aunt Ferns’ response was equally as thrilling…”Morning Hazel, what do you need?”

The fact that Grandma asked her to call and the fact that Aunt Fern knew it and that is all transpired intuitively, seemed completely normal and not worth mentioning.
Their nonchalance of what just occurred proved to my young mind that this was a common occurrence, and while thrilling to me, it was just ‘life’ for them.

Looking back it all felt SO dramatic, but now, years later it all seems quite simple, and these are some of the lessons I learned from Grandma that day.

Some things just are. They don’t need to be understood or analyzed. Intuition is a gift. Acknowledge enjoy and respect the gift, but remember that’s what it is…a gift. Everyone has a gift, none more special than another. Don’t downplay it, or deny it but at the same time do not think you are special, above anyone else…Just as easily as it was given, it can be taken away. Don’t take life so seriously and above all….be playful and never, EVER stop laughing.

Thank you Grandma, for taking the time to really KNOW me. To see what others missed, or maybe didn’t understand. You have been, and still are, my inspiration.

X0X0,
Barbie