It's been a week of clarity and confusion involving names; my name, and Kevin's name, to be exact. (See what I mean?) Sooner or later it was bound to happen. Let me explain.
Kevin, (one grandchild of five, mind you) has always called me Grampy, and more recently he's started to call me Grampa, which is fine, too. But it's always been a source of amusement and wonder when family and friends call me by my first name and Kevin the younger would race in and answer first with, "What?" or "Yeah?" Before I have even uttered a word. Well this week Kevin put it all together as we were leaving the playground. I was buckling him into his car seat when Kevin looked at me and said, "There are two Kevin's in the car right now. You and me!" Even though I've known that he made the connection awhile ago, this was the first time he said so to me. As a grandfather looking at a little robust life bouncing before my eyes, it was a moment, a new page between Kevin and Kevin. As I drove away I was also reminded of the power and place of time itself, where we have been and what the future might hold
Because as some of my readers know, just a week earlier Kevin the younger was discharged from Boston Children's Hospital after developing a bone infection (Osteomyelitis) in his hip. It was one of those random out of the blue, and serious, medical situations that can happen with children at anytime. Two weeks ago Kevin developed a limp and since he's been making it a point to leap from every elevated perch he could find, everyone thought it was a sprain of some sort and would go away. When it didn't, Kevin went from the docs to X-Rays to MIR's then straight to the hospital for five days of IV antibiotics. The good news is that he's home now on oral meds for several weeks (and follow-up tests for 12 more weeks) and is back to running with occasional leaps through the air. (See pic of Kevin at Children's Hospital taken by mom, Jen)
Now being a grandparent means you get to return these little packages to

