You Can Call Me Grandpa

One last quick getaway before the arrival of our first grandbaby. That was the plan.

I made a non-refundable reservation for a Holiday Inn in Gaylord over 200 miles north in a region which embraces the winter and cold with snowmobiles, skiis and ice sculptures. Leave Saturday, return Sunday. That was the plan.

Then this past Saturday morning before we could wake on our own the phone rang. It was Greg, our son. His nine month pregnant wife's water had broken. They would soon be on their way to the hospital. Could we watch Simon, their Boston Terrier?

What??? She was still over two weeks pre-term. With her first, a baby that often comes late!

So we agreed to take Simon, figuring (correctly) that we could pass him on to Wendy's sister. She could use a playmate for their dog Harley for the weekend. Since our reservations were only for one night, by the time we made a quick trip up and back our new grandbaby would be here for the holding and we could retrieve Simon as well. New plan.

Not the best plan as it turned out. A light, swirling snow made the trek north treacherous. We passed numerous accidents, spin-outs, even ambulances. Sometimes Wendy had lots of bars on her cell phone, sometimes not.

Then the anxious waiting. We got a call at 1 p.m. Labor progressing. More anxious waiting. Then close to 9 p.m. she was fully dilated and ready to deliver. Thought the next phone call would come soon. Didn't. Not till 4 a.m. did we learn that Lindsay had finally delivered a seven-pound, nine-ounce boy within the previous hour--Grant Nicholas.

Two hours later we're preparing to hit the road south. Not many people were up and at 'em this early on a bone-chilling winter's morn. Our car let us know just how cold it was with a strange whining noise, almost like a cry, when we tried to pull out of the parking lot.

"It's okay. We're going home," Wendy tried to re-assure our car. As we drove on, we could understand its distress. The thermometer on the rear view mirror recorded the outside temperature: twenty six degrees BELOW zero. That doesn't include windchill either.

But the drive home to Ann Arbor had its reward.




Ain't he a doll. And don't I look like a proud grandpa?



Now just to convince the new parents that Wendy and I would make g-r-e-a-t babysitters. Probably didn't help that their dog Simon came up missing while on our watch. Do you see him in the picture below?


Maybe from a better angle. Check out this picture.


We'll do better with a new baby. Promise.