{"id":36609,"date":"2021-05-20T16:31:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T20:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=36609"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:38:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:38:35","slug":"grandfatherhood-by-ac1830","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=36609","title":{"rendered":"Grandfatherhood (by AC1830)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: Ben reflects on the wonder of being a father and a grandfather. A Father\u2019s Day tribute.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rating: K, Word count: 518<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Grandfatherhood<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What a rush of emotions I have felt this night while I awaited the birth of Adam\u2019s child, my grandchild. Now, as I hold my granddaughter just hours after she was born I find I have not lost my touch for soothing one so small. While this is my fifth grandchild, Anna Grace is the first one to be born on the Ponderosa, in fact in the United States. Adam\u2019s other children were all born in Spain thus making this child a bit more special to me. She will be the first one I get to hold and bond with from\u00a0 the very beginning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I gaze at this sleeping angel whose small head is nestled in my hands and whose tiny feet rest against my body, I am unexpectedly reminded of another angel that filled my hands forty-two years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was terrifying for me to hear Elizabeth\u2019s moans and cries as she struggled to bring our child into the world, fighting against her poor health. When all grew quiet and the doctor called me up to see her and to meet our son, nothing but joy filled my heart as I flew up the stairs. While Liz rested, the doctor handed me a tiny babe wrapped so tightly in a blanket that all I could see was his head. His hair was as dark as mine but his hazel eyes matched his mother\u2019s and his tiny lips had a cupid-bow shape that was just like his mother\u2019s. Little Adam studied my face as I studied his. In those precious first moments something about him entwined my heart creating a bond that would be tested many times over yet would never break.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Liz awoke and called me to her side, Adam cooed and squirmed in my shaking arms. I sat carefully on the bed trying not to jostle it and laid our son in Liz\u2019s waiting arms. At that moment I knew my life would never be the same. I felt an overpowering love for my wife and for this new little life we had created with that love. I have never forgotten that moment in time when it was the three of us, and that image has sustained me through my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feeling wriggling movements in my arms, my thoughts are drawn back to my waking granddaughter. While memories of those first moments with her father took me back through time, this new little one had snagged my finger with her petite hand and now refuses to let go. As our eyes meet, her rosy lips curl upwards and she gurgles. This little one not only has found my finger, but has found my heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Utterly lost in the cherished and few moments I have had with this little bundle of joy, I failed to notice my son’s approach. He now stands tall before me as I place his daughter into his arms. For a moment Anna Grace is shared between us, and Adam and I exchange understanding looks as we silently acknowledge how wondrous it is to be a father and a grandfather.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: Ben reflects on the wonder of being a father and a grandfather. A Father\u2019s Day tribute.<\/p>\n

Rating: K, Word count: 518<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8333,"featured_media":36610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1004,698,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ben-cartwright","category-post-timeline","category-short-stories","wpcat-1004-id","wpcat-698-id","wpcat-8-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WOF-09.jpg?fit=651%2C529&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8333"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}