"Grandma, let's go to a meeting!"

Today we had the glorious pleasure of having our grandchildren all to ourselves. Their parents took off for a well deserved 4 day cruise. They both turned 30 this year and after going through Drew's recent heart surgery and all that came before hand and afterwards, they had much to celebrate and a lot of earned relaxation coming to them. I am so honored that they are trusting us with such precious cargo and really take it as a testimony that they don't think I''m as old and senile as I sometimes think I am. I'm sure it helps that Drew is down to only two medications now, not so much to keep track of anymore.

Here's a cute story: We were pretty much relishing in spoiling the kids rotten today and were keeping busy with videos, games, play-doh and Hungry Hungry, Hippo. They both helped me make a batch of brownies and then a homemade pizza for dinner. They ate so much of the ingredients, I was surprised that they ate dinner at all, but they did. Their mother, my daughter, is so active in church and children's heart organizations that a normal day for the kids is tagging along to these functions as well as swimming lessons, grocery shopping, Gymboree, etc. We thought they would enjoy a whole day at home and we didn't even get them out of their pajamas until well into the afternoon. At about 4:00, Drew came up to me and said, "Grandma, lets go to a meeting." I asked him what kind of meeting he wanted to go to and he said, "I don't know, just a meeting... maybe a toy meeting."

Tomorrow we're taking them to the beach!

Calling all Grandmas with Heart

Hi, I am hoping there might be a grandma, grandpa, aunt or uncle out there who is living with the reality of a grandchild (niece or nephew) with CHD and wants to talk about it. My little guy was born with interrupted aortic arch, VSD, hypoplastic aortic root and DiGeorge Syndrome. He is the bravest person I know.

Drew just had his 3rd open heart surgery at Stanford University. He is 4 years old and doing great after a 6 week hospital stay. His parents, my daughter and son in law, could not be doing a better job raising him and his 2 year old sister. However, I sometimes find that I can't let out my true feelings to them, as they are going through enough of their own fear, conflict, etc.. I try to just listen and offer encouragement but sometimes its hard to know what to say and its hard to keep my own fears, thoughts, etc in all the time. I know they can't possibly feel what I feel, but I bet you can if you're in this situation and I'd love to talk about it. It is hard to be the mother of a mother with a heart baby. Its hard to see her cry her eyes out over other heart babies that she knows. Its beautiful to see her help them and reach out to them and watch her give them her support, though, and I'm wondering if I can do the same with other moms, dads, and relatives of special children like me that have special children of their own.