I am the Grandmother of a talented, smart, loving young woman, Kendell Kamansky. She will be graduating soon from College, and I could not be more proud.
When asked to write a sentimental memory of Kendell, I remembered the special moments in our lives instantly.
When Kendell was around 3 or 4 years old, she and her Mother lived with me and her grandfather, Pa. Kendell’s Mom worked from 3pm until midnight week days, and Pa and I worked days, which allowed us to help with Kendell in the evenings. Kendell’s Mom sometimes would drop her off at a daycare center, located in the town that I worked. With a carseat in the back, at 5:05 pm, I would drive to the daycare and load that little girl into the carseat. Buckling children in carseats, is one of the most difficult responsibility that a grandparent has, but I learned and we did live through our 15 minute trips home.
Kendell always was cranky on the drive, whining , crying, something was always upsetting her. So I decided to sing louder than she could cry. I tried nursery songs, which were boring, and she thought so too. So I started making up songs from parts of old songs I heard over the years. The songs were not appropriate for a young child, but I sang them anyway, just to stop the crying. Kendell liked the silly songs and screamed when I stopped. So, I was singing so loud, I was sure the cars beside us at the stop lights could hear..
Once home, we cooked dinner and watched Tv. Kendell loved to read , so we did our best to read as many books as possible before bedtime. Her room was a little girl’s room with stuff animals everywhere, pink and lavender walls, on the ceiling we had put the “glow in the dark ” stars and moon, bright enough she did not need a night light.
Bedtime was special, I would bathe her and she would put on her “ sleeping beauty” pajamas. Down the stairs she would go and kiss Pa goodnight, but he would grab her up and carry her upstairs, just like “Sleeping Beauty”, her long hair would fall down her shoulders onto the floor. I would walk behind to watch how she closed her eyes tight. We would shower her with kisses and then she would giggle. I would stay and read one more book and soon her eyes would close for the night, just like “Sleeping Beauty”.
I still can see her hair flowing over Pa’s arm as he walked each step to her room.
These were special moments for grandparents, moments so simple, you don’t realize they are so special, until they are gone.
Kendell’s life will be filled with so many special moments, that they will be too many to count.
This is just the beginning for our “Sleeping Beauty” .
Love you, Kendell
Granna
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