I read that there are four archetypes – child, mother, father, grandparent.

I spent yesterday with my grandchild and his mother, and his father before he went to work.  We giggled and laughed, and played very seriously too. Grandchild loves owls and is intrigued with the book “Wake up, Little Owl”.

We went to the park, and the library for story time, and out to lunch and then to a facilitated group meeting of mothers and babies.  It was a relaxed, enriching, joyful day, a day where I did not check political news, and was floating on cherubic clouds.

The woman who orchestrated story time led us in singing songs and acting them out.  The parents enjoyed swinging and clapping as much as the babies ranging in age from almost four months like my grandchild of joy to one year and two months.  Some crawled; some stood and toddled; others watched; all waved goodbye.

In gratitude, I celebrate the words of Gilbert K. Chesterson who wrote: I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. Yes!

Rachel Carson who warned us to protect our natural environment wrote:

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder … he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.“

May we each create this for ourselves and for those around us. Children work hard to learn to lift their heads and crawl. They move forward and then draw back. This country has drawn back, and now we work together to leap forward for all children, for the child within, for male and female, for the adaptive and resilient wisdom of the elder, and for this earth we share. Peace. Gratitude. Wonder. Love.