“I went in the store and felt…a wee bit outta place. I quickly turned my rugged Fossil purse around so the sales people wouldn’t see the brand and know I didn’t belong. I found a sales person who offered me champagne. CHAMPAGNE? Then, I asked the price.”
‘My husband took me to Louis Vuitton and told me I could choose a purse for my birthday. Y’all, I’m not a Louis kinda gal.’
‘Are you mom?’ I nodded, ‘Yes.’ He ran along the canal for a mile. He saw the farmer pulling her out of the water. Our sweet girl had bumped into this farmer’s leg.’
“With 10 adults and 5 kids present, anyone would assume our daughter would have been safe. But after unexpected guests rang the doorbell, a bag of popcorn started on fire, and multiple kids ran outside, it only took seconds for Preslee to slip past everyone into the canal.”
‘I asked if she was OK. She smiled through faint tears. She thanked me for giving her these moments back. She told me how lucky I am that I get to do this every single night.’
“She babysat, and SHE thanked ME?!”
‘I received suspicious looks for being a grown man at the park at 2 p.m. with his kids. ‘It’s nice of you to do your wife’s job,’ is what they were really saying.’
“I ran into friends at the grocery store, and they asked me if I’d lost my job. All of it was maddening.”
‘It’s 3 a.m. and you’d like a cookie? OKAY!’ It’s funny how my once-strict mother turned into the good witch from the Wizard of Oz, her tutu lined with snacks, the second her children were grown.
“I hear being a grandparent is the height of bliss. You get all of the benefits of enjoying children. You can spoil them rotten, discipline them rarely or not at all, and send them home to their parents as soon as you’re sick of watching Moana for the 82nd time this week. What’s not to love?”
