MY GRANDDAUGHTER

My granddaughter ,who lives with me, is Sheena Mae. She turned 3 last March 2. When she gets up in the morning - during weekends - she would knock at my door and yell at the top of her voice " Lola, lola..." and wouldn't stop until I groggily opened the door for her. She romped all day long, toppling chairs, writing on our large stand-up mirror, messing with my make-up, "reading" my books (sometimes, upside down), smearing my body lotion all over the walls , standing on a chair and insisting to wash the dishes(not aware that she could fall off at the slightest nudge), and doing all the things, her ingenious mind could think of. There were no limits to what she wanted to do. She was never short of something new and "exciting" things to do. In her innocent mind, the world was there for her. At times, I feel anxious she might slip or fall down or trip on a chair, and would now and then tell her to keep still, but no matter how I tried to minimize her movements, she would and could not stop. One thing that made me smile, is that whenever she needs her bottle and she sees me around, she would insist that I be the one to prepare it for her - even when she sees that I am busy with some paperwork.




I literally would be on my toes all day long, anxious that she might hurt herself. However; the realization that she would not be young forever that soon, she would become a grown up, made me relax a bit and allow her to do her thing as long as she does not play with a knife or any similar activity. I know she would hurt herself some, fall and trip at times and come to experience the realities of life which are sometimes not to her liking, but it is the only way that she could learn and truly live life. These experiences would make her stronger and sturdier. I am certain her dauntless spirit would still be there as the years would go by. I would like to believe that we have given and will still be giving her, most of the necessary
"paraphernalia" she would need to meet the challenges that life has to offer.



I treasure all my grandchildren -Sheena Mae, Ivan, Ivon, Carl Joshua and Gabby. But Sheena stays with me, so it is through her that I remember the audacity and ebullience of being young and carefree and believing that one owns the world and that nothing is impossible.

Today, she tucked her writing pad in her bag and lisped confidently:
"Lola, I am going to school with you tomorrow."

Talk about an intrepid spirit. That is my granddaughter!