Across the Ages

My newest grandson, Lucas, is five months old, and has become responsive to my talking and smiling. He spends much of his waking time, when he is not being fed or diapered, kicking his feet in the air, waving his arms, and making cooing sounds.  What a pleasure to watch. I eagerly anticipate spending time with him as he grows up.

 As Lucas is at the very beginning of his life, and I have gone through the majority of my life stages, I thought about our differences and similarities and wondered whether we can connect across our ages. I think we can.

The differences are many, but I expect some will diminish.

 Lucas has no words yet, and I am a logophile. I love reading, writing, and especially finding the right words to express my thoughts.

            I will teach him new words, and how to play Scrabble, my favorite game, as we both age. And as he becomes familiar with new technologies or new terms entering our culture, he can teach me those.  

He can’t walk. Actually he can’t even crawl yet. I love to go for long walks, and to visit new museums and other places.  

As we both age we will come to a point where our mobility capacities cross… his little boy legs will mean he can’t cover too much distance too quickly, and this will match the distance I can cover with my flagging energy. I hope we will go to many places together.

He sleeps a lot now but will soon require less sleeping time, and will nap infrequently. I am busy and active throughout the day.

But  I am approaching the time when infrequent daytime naps will help me feel refreshed – another good match to anticipate.

And there are similarities which are likely to become differences.

He eats often, about every 3-4 hours. As he gets older he will need to eat less frequently. Since I retired, and am home more due to COVID, I too eat about every 3-4 hours, whereas I used to just eat at mealtimes, about every 6-8 hours.  

Until the COVID lockdown is over, I expect my new eating pattern will continue. But this means there is another similarity – we both seem to be outgrowing our clothes!

Our diets are somewhat similar now- rather bland. He is just on milk, and I prefer mild, non-spicy, delicate flavors. This will definitely change, as his parents love many cuisines, some of which are quite spicy, and they will introduce him to all of them.

And I will introduce him to some of our family’s favorite foods, like bagels and noodle pudding, in moderation of course.

Lucas’ hair has been thinning since his birth, and it will soon begin filling in, as his parents both have thick hair. My hair is thinning as well, but I expect the change for me is unidirectional.

So who cares about hair anyway.

We both stay home much of the time now. I have traveled extensively, both for work and pleasure, but COVID and retirement means that home- and family-based activities have increased. This is likely to continue. Lucas’ Mom’s profession is in International Development, and his parents look forward to showing him the world. He has much travel in his future.

I look forward to hearing about his travels when he gets home.

So as this new year begins, with hopes for a long rich life ahead for my young grandson, I know that our love as well as our differences and similarities will connect us across our ages.