Alex Tang
Articles
- General
- Theology
- Paul
- Karl Barth
- Spiritual Formation
- Christian Education
- Spiritual Direction
- Spirituality
- Worship
- Church
- Parenting
- Medical
- Bioethics
- Books Reviews
- Videos
- Audios
- PhD dissertation
Spiritual writing
- e-Reflections
- Devotions
- The Abba Ah Beng Chronicles
- Bible Lands
- Conversations with my granddaughter
- Conversations with my grandson
- Poems
- Prayers
Nurturing/ Teaching Courses
- Sermons
- Beginning Christian Life Studies
- The Apostles' Creed
- Child Health and Nutrition
- Biomedical Ethics
- Spiritual Direction
- Spiritual Formation
- Spiritual formation communities
- Retreats
Engaging Culture
- Bioethics
- Glocalisation
- Books and Reading
- A Writing Life
- Star Trek
- Science Fiction
- Comics
- Movies
- Gaming
- Photography
- The End is Near
My Notebook
My blogs
- Spiritual Formation on the Run
- Random Musings from a Doctor's Chair
- Random Sermons from a Doctor's Chair
- Random Writings from a Doctor's Chair
- Random Spirituality from a Doctor's Chair
Books Recommendation
---------------------
Medical Students /Paediatric notes
Grandchildren
on grandchildren
Conversations with my Granddaughter
Dr Alex Tang
Little one,
you are two years old now. Grampa has been thinking about what a blessing you are and how to put it into words when Grampa came across this quotation from another grandpa who appreciates his grandchildren. This grandpa’s name is Frederick Buechner and he is a writer of books. On the subject of grandchildren, Buechner writes,
To have grandchildren is not only to be given something but to be given
something back.
You are given back something of your children's childhood all those years
ago. You are given back something of what it was like to be a young parent.
You are given back something of your own childhood even, as on creaking
knees you get down on the floor to play tiddlywinks, or sing
about Old MacDonald and his farm, or watch Saturday morning cartoons till
you're cross-eyed.
It is not only your own genes that are part of
your grandchildren but the genes of all sorts of people they never knew but
who, through them, will play some part in times and places they never
dreamed of. And of course along with your genes, they will also carry their
memories of you into those times and places too—the afternoon you lay in the
hammock with them watching the breezes blow, the face you made when one of
them stuck out a tongue dyed Popsicle blue at you, the time you got a
splinter out for one of them with the tweezers of your Swiss army knife.
On some distant day they will hold
grandchildren of their own with the same hands you once held them by as you
searched the beach at low tide for Spanish gold. In the Meantime, they are
the freshest and fairest you have. After you're gone, it is mainly because
of them that the earth will not be as if you never walked on it. ~originally
published in Beyond Words
Grandpa Buechner is a very wise man. Grampa
loved his description of grandchildren because you embodied everything he
writes about.
Two years ago when you first arrived, Grampa
prayed for you in the hospital. Grampa’s prayer is a prayer of thanks as the
Good Lord has given you as a gift to your parents and also to Grampa. Over
the two years, you have helped Grampa to realize that you have not also
given Grampa a gift of yourself but also additional bonus. The Bible states
that children are gifts from God. And Grampa will add that they are bonus to
grandparents.
Little one, you have given Grampa the bonus of
reliving your Mummy’s childhood. Being first time parents, much of Grandma
and Grampa's time is taken up to ensure that your Mummy ‘stay alive’. This
may seem funny as your Grampa is supposed to be an expert on children’s
health. But when it comes to your own child, there is no such thing as an
expert. We were so busy with looking after her, and with our jobs that we
did not realize how much of her childhood we have missed. Yes, we did
celebrate the day she first walked, say her first word, and placing another
mark on the wall to show how much she has grown. You, little one, has
made Grampa aware that there are large chunks that Grampa have missed. Now
that Grampa do not have to be involved in the day to day care of a growing
child, Grampa have the privilege and luxury of observing and enjoying your
growth; discovery of new skills, sense of wonder, and the innocent happiness
of a child. Grampa cherish our making new memories together. Little one, you
are indeed the ‘freshest and fairest’ Grampa have. And Grampa continue to
thank God for you.
12 January 2014
more conversations here
