I recently wrote about the acceptance of our adopted children by our extended family. One family member has been so exceptional that she deserves an article dedicated solely to her.
Both of my wife’s parents are deceased. All of us have a special need in our heart that only a parent can satisfy. My wife has an aunt that has filled the roles of mother to her and grandmother to our boys.
Six months ago, Nancy and I were badly in need of a time of refreshing. Her aunt hosted us in her beautiful home in far south Texas. Everything was perfect; she made sure that it was.
I celebrated a landmark birthday a few months ago. We had reservations to go to a wonderful coastal resort for six days. It was going to cost us all of our remaining airline and hotel points that were saved from my working days. A few weeks before the trip, our family circumstances changed and we realized that we could not leave the children for that long.
I was very disappointed about having to cancel the trip. In the midst of those feelings, Aunt Fern called to say that she had a huge four bedroom condo on the beach at South Padre Island on hold. Could we join her?
The excitement building up to the trip was almost as much fun as the trip itself. One of the boys kept saying that we were going to James Coney Island. They had never seen the ocean, so they kept relating it to being a big lake.
Everything was wonderful. We had the beach, a babysitter, a tour of the Brownsville Zoo, a beautiful condo and a grandmother willing to put up with five little boys for a week. We paid for things only when we put our foot down and insisted.
The boys frequently ask about going back. The six year old has decided that we need to live by the ocean. I always agree with him about that. The two year old wonders where Aunt Fern is. He thinks he sees her all the time. We have been invited to come back next year.
Our boys had never even thought about a grandmother. Now they have two and they will never forget them. The most important thing is that the place in Nancy’s heart was touched. Now she can go back to being a mother that satisfies that place where no one else can go in her own children’s hearts.