This blog is all about my pilgrimage to Santiago. It's also about my daily, weekly, yearly pilgrimage as a human being - trying to successfully navigate my way to - well, who knows to where half the time?
Some days of this particular pilgrimage are just more special than others. Some of the detours will be marked with a big X - never to be travelled again but there are some days, and some places that I won't mind re-visiting a million times in my life.
Yesterday I visited a place that I know I will re-visit in my head over and over, always with the biggest smile and a heart that feels like it's ready to burst.
My little grandson performed in his first Christmas concert.
He's all of two years and five months old. The only grandchild, also the only great-grandchild and what a blessing this little angel is in our family!
We filled a whole row in the school hall and looking at the faces on either side of me I felt myself pausing and connecting with each one of them, without saying a word.
My daughter. Watching her first child taking a step into the big wide world without her being able to hold his hand. On the stage he had to perform on his own. A new exciting, but as I knew too well, also a truly daunting experience! I could identify with the proud yet worried look on her face, not too long ago I was sitting in the same chair - watching my shy little girl standing on a stage just like this one!
On the other side my husband, arms folded across the chest, to prevent the proud heart from jumping out, I suspected...
Then there were my parents. Our little guy is their first and only great-grandchild. They were beaming, to put it mildly. I secretly looked at them every now and then during the concert and thanked God so many times for granting them this wonderful blessing. They feel so privileged to have been spared to meet their first great-grandchild, something that they tell me they never thought would happen!
My mother suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis and sitting on that chair for so long was not easy for her, but I think it would have taken a battalion to move her yesterday!
A new generation, a new era. Watching him find his way, and seeing him become so comfortable in this new world that he is discovering was truly special. He took to the stage like a natural, his performance deserving of an Oscar!
Halfway through the performance he spotted us. Slightly puzzled he first gave us all a really surprised look and then shouted 'Grandpa!' at the top of his voice. Then the show really started!
We left the school floating on a cloud - I now get grandparents all over the world! Being a parents is one thing, being a grandparent is taking everything to another level.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Sunday. On this Monday I say thank you for my son, my daughter and my grandchild. Being a mother and a grandmother are the most special roles that I've ever had to play in the concert that is my life!
Sweet little Tristan - the greatest gift ever!
Waiting in line, hat on head, for his present...
