A special night with my Grandson

I am generally the GRINCH around the Holidays. Donna this year even bought me a GRINCH shirt...Like the "Happy Holiday" Pic??.

It seems to me that Christmas has gotten so commercialized and it is more of a Holiday for kids; it seems just insane with the gifts, money, crowds, drama, families scattered all over the Country and to me, just isn't the same....

So the GRINCH got WHO’d tonight….

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with the boys as they are going to their Dads for Christmas this year. They leave in the morning….

It was a late dinner that started at about 9:00pm with Shanna, Shalyin, Brandi, the boys, Braden, (Brandis boyfriend)  Donna and I …

Side note…. Braden is a really great young man if I do say so myself…Honors student, active in his Fraternity, driven, motivated….An inspiration of a young man considering where he came from just a few years ago. He is as much of a success story as Brandi. Maybe someday he will allow me to share with you some of his journey… Like energy attracts like energy and Brandi and Braden seem to be a pretty good fit.

Anyway, we had a nice Christmas dinner with us all at the table laughing and talking…It was genuinely a very nice evening… And we are still so overly excited that Shanna and Shaylin are here, all of us are just tickled to have her here and excited about a fresh start.

Shanna seems to be adjusting well so far,  Shalyin is such a sweet little girl and is a great little kid. She seems to be happy and also adjusting very well with this new move. She doesn’t cry or wine a lot; she is intuitive, loving and funny. Such a cool thing to have them here and I guess I am a sucker for little girls after having the three girls in my life for so long.

Anyway, last year was a crazy year…The boys had about 4 different Christmases and Brandin’s Birthday is Christmas day so he had about three or four birthdays as well. He made some statements last year that I thought should require him to “give” this year in some fashion to see the value in giving and maybe even serving a family that has nothing. However, we weren’t able to make this happen this year.

So tonight, during dinner, Brandin knew that gifts would follow the dinner and could not sit still during his meal with the anxiety of opening gifts. My vote was they take the gifts with them to wherever they were going to have Christmas, open them on Christmas day and call the people to thank them for the gifts on that day….My idea was to create a Christmas that was just one Christmas. I got this weird thing I guess that it should be on one day…CHRISTMAS DAY!

After the meal, Brandin said…

“Pappy, you ready??”

“Ready for what?”

“To open gifts…”

“I think we should go somewhere and have you GIVE some this year…Don’t you think?”

He kinda bowed his head but the anxiety was overwhelming…

“Ok man, relax, we will get to it, they will be there in a minute; promise.’

And was being kinda sarcastic to him and his anxiousness, making him wait for a few more minutes… I figured as soon as we said “GO” they would run and tear open the gifts and get crazy with them… I also was still being the GRINCH and saying …

“I think you should wait till Christmas to open em, but I was outvoted.”

So I sit down on the couch and get my camera ready, taking my time…

As soon as I sat down and said…

“OK....GO…”

Brandin took off to the tree, reached under it, grabbed a gift real fast… I looked down to turn my camera on and figure it out (its new) and when I looked up to start taking pictures, Brandin was standing in front of me holding a gift up to me with both his hands and saying….

“I got this for you Pappy… "I" got if for you!!”

And he handed it to me all excited and eager, pointing to his chest to signify again it was him who got it…HE picked it out..

He said...

“I told you a while back I was going to get it for you….”

I was stunned… I had this sinking feeling in my gut… I was just “WHO’d!!"

I asked him…

“Should I guess what it is??”

“No Pappy…Open it…Open it...COME ON...COME ON!!!”

And he smiled, jumped up and down and giggled almost unable to contain himself as I sat down on the love seat a little overwhelmed.

I opened it and it was a little night light of a motorcycle with flames on it…

“See Pappy, it’s just like your motorcycle…See the flames”

And he was all excited and fidgety, giggling, pointing to the flames in case I couldn’t see them, and so happy to just GIVE to me.

Man, this was SOOOOOO unexpected and just knocked me off my feet.

“Ahhhhh, Brandin, this is soooo cool. I cant thank you enough for thinking of me. That was very sweet man…”

And he came and gave me a big hug.

He was so overly excited not to open his gifts, but to give me mine… That, to me, was very special…But I am just a big ole sap!

"Suffering snorkel blatz! They're relentless!."

~The Grinch~

 

After that, he went back to the gifts and all the kiddos opened up some stuff to celebrate with us before they leave tomorrow. I was having a hard time concentrating on taking pictures as I was mulling this over in my head…. I was JUST telling my sister today after she was giving me crap about being the GRINCH and I jokingly said…

“You can give me crap, just remember how the movie ended…”

No accidents RIGHT??

Later, after the house calmed down and everyone went to sleep, I was on the couch with Donna and I said…

“Man, I feel bad for giving Brandin a hard time about “giving” and the person he chose to give to was me… WOW!!"

Donna jokingly, jacking with me said…

“You should!!”

Shen explained that Brandin has been waiting on pins and needles for two weeks to give me this present… I am SOOOO humbled…

The GRINCH got SERVED!! And I am just so tickled with his desire to do this with no coaching and simply to show that he loved me and cared for me…As gruff as I can be!!

I will tell ya….I think the boys know I would go to the end of the earth for them, but generally I am stern with them and hold them accountable. I know it’s a good thing to have that trait but know that sometimes being a stand looks like being an asshole.

I am so happy they see that I am not just a gruff old fart and love me in spite of it.

Someday, Brandin, I hope you read this and understand how appreciative I am for this night and the fine young man you showed up to be this evening. You are on the path very young to be a great man and your heart is something that everyone around you sees in you.

You already BE a big hearted guy!!  It’s a trait that will carry you far in this world and offer you many amazing experiences. Good job buddy and thank you for loving me! I am grateful to have you, your brother and your Momma in my life… You guys are special people to me and I love you dearly.

Thanks for thinking enough of me to be excited to give me something and keep your word to me. You told me you were going to do it, and you did it…THAT is a very good trait to have as well. I will remember this night buddy and really do think the light is cool and the heart you gave with it is immeasurable… Love ya buddy…Mean it!!

So, as the Story of the GRINCH goes, all the little people in WHO-VILLE believed in the magic of the season, loved the GRINCH anyway and let him see through their actions that love is by far THE greatest gift you can give of all.

Gifts will come and gifts will go, but the experience will be what stays with you and yours forever. BE love this Holiday and know that YOU are loved.

Blessings to you all!

Peace…. Brad