Bracelets, Guitars, and Grandma Brain.

I just realized I have Grandma Brain.

Grandma Brain means that one has gotten past a certain (unspecified) age, and once one gets past that certain (unspecified) age (whether you’re a grandma or not), some things that should be remembered just don’t get remembered.

As in the words of that old joke, “The memory is the second thing to go… and I don’t remember the first thing.”

So here’s what I’ve forgotten to remember.

I have forgotten to remember to write about one of the most special moments of Sarah’s Graduation Week! How could I possibly forget to write about something I’ll always remember?

It’s Grandma Brain, I tell you.

But anyway, here’s the story . . .

As you may remember, we were joined for Sarah’s graduation week by Nathan, Meagan, Noah, Ken’s parents, and my sister and her family.

On our last evening together, Meagan (who, for any new readers, is my daughter-in-law), suggested we pull out a couple of guitars and spend some time singing together.

How great of an idea is that? I mean, who actually sings together anymore?  Back in the day when entertainment options were relatively sparse, putting together an evening of music was what people did. But when multi-screen cinemas, Netflix, miniature golf and amusement parks hit the scene, the simpler, sweeter forms of entertainment took a back seat to the all-encompassing complexities and distractions of modern entertainment.

And so on that last evening, we embraced non-complexity as we gathered in the living room and tuned up our instruments and our voices.

Caleb (my amazing nephew) played bass guitar while Nathan (probably without even being aware he was doing it) kept up a beat on the pillar in the background. Nathan is an excellent drummer and keeps up a beat everywhere he goes.  (Uncle Randy also sat in on a few songs on the bass guitar.)

Caleb was joined by his Uncle Steve on guitar.

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We all sat around and sang hymns, patriotic songs, funny songs (remember, “I know an old lady, who swallowed a fly?) and any other kind of song that came to mind. And since randomness is one of our family’s gifts, trust me when I say we did quite a bit of musical flitting about.

It didn’t matter if we didn’t know all the words or if we only knew half the chords—it only mattered that we were together as a family, making music as a family.  (And what made it even more special was what had happened just before the singing—which I’ll tell you about in a minute.)

I got to hold Sir Grandbaby for part of the night which made my grandma soul quite happy. (Although I’m not sure the overall happiness vibe was shared by Miss Summer who was having to learn to
share her mama.

And speaking of sharing, I had to occasionally share my grandson with my son.

He is such a good daddy–trained by one of the best.

When Nathan wasn’t holding Noah, he was skulking around the room in true Nathan-esque fashion looking for people to tease.  Finding Uncle Randy taking a snooze (as the evening got later and later) was too great a temptation for his fun-loving heart to resist.

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I’m usually the kind of person who doesn’t do well with clutter but it’s amazing how special clutter can become when it’s created by people you love who you don’t get to see often enough.  In that case, clutter equals joy.

As if the laughter, the baby-holding and music-making weren’t special enough on their own, the moments leading up to said music-making were what I will remember for a very long time. And once again, they stemmed from another of Meagan’s fabulous ideas.

Meagan had called me a few weeks before Sarah’s graduation to ask if Steve and I wanted to go in with her and Nathan on a Pandora bracelet for Sarah. And then the plan was that once the bracelet was purchased, other family members could buy meaningful charms to add to it.

I thought it was a charming idea in every sense of the word and gave it my enthusiastic approval.

But that wasn’t even the best part of the idea. The best part was Meagan’s suggestion concerning how we could give the bracelet to Sarah: we would ask each person to accompany the presentation of their charm with the story behind why they chose it, and how that tied into what Sarah meant to them.

Oh. My.

As beautiful as the bracelet was, it paled in comparison to the beauty of the love that flowed through the room during the sweet, simple ceremony that preceded our family songfest.

I asked Meagan to start things off and by the time she had finished so eloquently (and tearfully) telling Sarah about how much her courage in the hard times had helped Meagan through her own tough chapters in life, well, there were tears on every face.

And the words and the emotions continued to flow through the room as each member of the family added their own charm, their story, and their tears. It was a priceless, precious moment that will never fade away. I am grateful and blessed to have a daughter-in-law who so deeply appreciates the importance of words and ceremony and who understands what they contribute to the fabric of a family. Her mom (and my dear friend, Sheri) taught her those lessons and now our family is the grateful recipient of her beautiful and thoughtful creativity.

I will never forget that sweet ceremony and to have it followed by the fun of making music together—well, it was truly a night of memory-making joy.

For those of you who love charms and bracelets, here is what Sarah received and from whom:

My mom: a lion with the word Courage on it
Caleb: a tiny laptop computer (that opens!)
Grandma and Grandpa Smith (Steve’s parents): a Faith bead
Nathan: a Sister bead
Meagan: a pink bead (for cancer)
Uncle Randy: a graduation hat
Aunt Debbie: a letter “S” charm
Frank and Sheri Hawley (Meagan’s parents) a lighthouse and a hat

A few more photos:

Let me close by pointing you in the direction of Sarah’s latest post on her blog as it takes a look back at her cancer years.

Thanks for reading today and for sharing with us the joy of those precious moments.