This year our grandson stays two weeks and time is flying fast. A nine-year-old
can steal your heart. I wish the days would last.
We finished planting fence posts. It was time to head on in. We grabbed a
stack of grandma’s cookies from the cookie bin.
My grandson chomped a cookie down before I took a bite. And then he
asked a question he’d been trying hard to fight.
He took a chair right next to me. Said, “How about a loan?” I told him that my
pocketbook was dang near skin and bone.
He prob’ly knew I had a little money tucked away. I save for those emergencies
we call a rainy day.
I quizzed my grandson ‘bout the loan. “How much you got in mind?” He said, “I’d
like five dollars, please. I’m kinda in a bind.”
As grandpas do, I told him, “I can float you extra cash. Let’s go find Grandma’s
Bible. That is where I keep my stash.”
I slipped him five new dollar bills, plus five more Ones to boot. I told him I was
cleaning out our Bible filled with loot.
My grandson’s smile was almost like he’d won the lottery, or maybe like my silly
mug when eating bakery.
But then I told my grandson, “Back when I was nine years old. We didn’t have
much money, but our life was rich as gold.
“Each morning we were up at five and out to milk the cows. And some of us were
sleepyheads, not easy to arouse.
“We fed the horses, gathered eggs, then caught the bus to school. We always ate
a breakfast. Even now it makes me drool.
“We never had allowance, but we had a horse to ride. And bullets for the .22 my
father would provide.
“So, no one gave us money. We all learned to do without.” That’s when I said,
“Oh by the way, what is this loan about?”
He said, “You’re needing brand new socks. Your toes are sticking through. That’s
why I needed cash to get a pair of socks for you.”
I gazed down at my grandson. Now his purpose came to light. Said, “Let’s head
on down to Merckle’s. We’ll have ice cream floats tonight.”
