social clash

"Don't forget the luncheon is at 12:00 sharp. The girls can't wait to catch up. I'm sure you'll look great, you always do. Name is under Nana ."

I can't remember the last time I had lunch without looking at my watch. Not that it's that important. That kind of thinking would give pause to call me shallow. Not me. But there was a time when I was ecstatic about being free to do the things "ladies" do, once their chicks are out of the nest. I remembered the look on my mother's face when she pushed the last one of us out the door in order to get to "Michigan Avenue, Chicago". Oh! just to see the fashions. I couldn't wait for that moment in my life. And I do recall that the white gloves, and hat was going to make the fashionable statement.

I spent so many memorable years in the City of Chicago with my best friends and our moms. We did lunch!


Funny thing, I don't live in Chicago, we don't wear those gorgeous gloves, and the hat doesn't fit on my small head. I Magnin's out of business, Bonwitt Teller didn't wait for me, and the trademark for the wonderful lunch, followed by a Frango mint at Marshall Fields is a figment of my imagination.

Where in the world would all the grandma's go for lunch with their Grandchildren, if not the Walnut Room in Marshall Fields?

Perspective in our youth transforms at tremendous speed during our short lifetime. What we believe is going to happen probably doesn't . And we spend soooo much time getting upset that it does not follow our plan.

Many of us have spent a lifetime accruing titles, status, diplomas in order to find a morsel of who we are.

Who are we? Accountant, teacher, psychologist, doctor, spiritual leader, philosopher?

MBA, Phd, Jd.....and some have all of these.

My grandchild calls me by many loving names, but the main one is "Remember to pick me up and don't get lost, Nana."

When I pick her up from school, her expressive eyes dance, because I'm there.

When I tuck her in bed, her arms lock around my neck, and she's discovered the butterfly kiss.
"Just one more, Nana. " Call Poppa, I give him one too,.

When my friends call for lunch, I usually have a few spots on my blouse, the peanut butter and jelly does not match the feathers and leathers once admired.

My manicured fingernails, once so important, are finding treasures in the garden we just planted. And she's so proud of the roly poly she just found. She wants to know if she can sleep with the beetle?

Being a child's grandparent is an incredible experience. Raising a grandchild is ironic.
The parent you had yearned to be for your kids, is entrusted in their prodigy.


"Lunch is on me, girls. My treat. " Get the GPS out, Must pick up our little one. Can't be late. Next year, come to Arizona. No gloves, and no hat!