Just a thought… To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today. [Barbara Johnson]

As we prepare to make our drive westward and then fly home Wednesday, we leave the Ottawa area with a birthday – Jane’s fifth today.

Before I go any further, it is with a full heart and utmost respect that I recognize this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, devoted to those children whose lives were altered, ruined or even ended by the residential school system here in Canada. Our months without our grandkids pale in comparison in almost every way to the pain suffered by parents and grandparents in years past due to systemic abuse. We remember and strive as a people to do better together.

To say that our week with them has been an emotional highlight in an often dark year would be an understatement; the laughter, the play, the adventures and the cuddles will have to last us a good long time, but we’ll make sure they do.

With their parents’ permission, a few pictures to share of our time with Colin (who turns 10 in October) and today’s Birthday Girl.

We all went to Jane’s first NHL game (Colin’s second) and Jane’s Senators won. Poor Colin hasn’t seen the Leafs win in person yet, but a great time was had by all four of us.

We played every day we were there in the two parks near their new home (it’s really a wonderful family neighbourhood and the small school catchment means they regularly run into classmates outside – something they didn’t do in their BC neighbourhood).

One park has such lovely memories for us: it’s where we played baseball with Lauren one final time in 2015 and she hit the ball so hard she broke an aluminum bat in half. Wish we had the two pieces to prove it to you, but yesterday we bought Colin and Jane their first aluminum bats. Thanks to genes and hours upon hours of practice at our BC home with Rob, the kids can hit. As for Colin…well, his major league dreams don’t seem to be as far out of reach as logic might dictate. (I know, I know, typical grandmother!)

Here’s a sweet shot from the park the other day.

Rob took Colin to an OHL game Friday night (home team lost, poor kid!) and we ate out a few times, spoiled them rotten and just enjoyed an entire weekend of being immersed in their sweet, silly, exhausting company while their folks took a couple of nights off.

I think this time with them has marked a turning point for Rob and for me. We see that they’re settled in well and happily, and as we move to the periphery of their lives, we’ll continue to hope they hold on to the memories as closely as we will, the way I remember precious time with my grandparents when I was younger.

When it comes to saying our good-byes in life, it’s all about how we get through them: finding those silver linings, holding on to the good and even using the not-so-good to remind us that some things can be for the best. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it.

So, my friend, we’re off to a birthday party today, grateful to have had this time with family and thinking of those who missed so many years with their own.

Have a gentle week. And thank you Ottawa for the most glorious weather this weekend!