What's In the Bag?

There is a running joke in my family that I cannot see my parents without my father saying, "I have a bag for you from your mother." Today when I went to their house before golfing with Dad was no different. Typically the bag has books, old mail or something Mom is looking to get rid of in it. Today, it held a gift.

I was blessed to have all 4 of my grandparents in my life until 1994. As I pulled the books and People magazine out of the bag this evening, I discovered a journal titled "Grandma Remembers" that my dad's mom filled out for us. As I flipped through it, I cracked up at some of the things Grandma wrote and had to call my dad to clarify one story (apparently hospitals were a luxury in the 20s when your kid set fire in a closet...)

On the page called Funny Events is a picture of my grandparents from 1945 (which puts them in their 30s) and my grandmother wrote, "acting as Bob's caddy when he played golf in Warm Springs, VA in August 1945, while visiting his sister." Now if you'll recall, the first tournament I played in last month, the tournament that catapulted me into wanting to call myself "golfer" was in Hot Springs, VA at the Homestead. To think that my grandparents had one of their funniest memories close to where I had one of mine! Did I tell you about the torrential rain we had during the tournament? Thank God I wasn't wearing white!

It's amazing the little gifts life brings you at the right moments. I certainly owe a larger debt of gratitude than I realized to my friend who invited me to play in that tournament. Or perhaps it is Grandma and Grandad I owe the debt to... I do sense their hand in all of this. Regardless, I will look forward to the bags my parents always have for me. You never know what they might contain!