“Grandma, You’re Fired!”
BY FLORENCE LEVINE
Photo courtesy
Iof Florence Levine t came as a shock to me, after
17 years of loyal and devoted
service, to be dismissed. The
words still stung.
My granddaughter waved her
driver’s license papers in the air.
Seventeen years earlier, I’d committed
to the job of “grandma,”
thereafter, planting myself day after
day outside the front door of school
waiting for her to come out. “How
was your day?,” I automatically
threw at her, really meaning it!
On sunny days, we’d head
straight for the playground, where
I immediately lost her among the
throng of other 6-year-olds with red
coats, each of us knowing the other
was nearby. We had the routine
down pat.
In earlier years, she’d descend
the steps of the little yellow
school bus at about noon. As
her mother arrived home from
her school at 3:30 or so, that left
us 3 and a half hours together. I
think of some of the zany things
we did in that time.
I remember her removing every
book from her dollhouse bookcase,
creating a huge pile on the floor;
then sitting atop the pile as if she
were the queen of books. After
that, we’d proceed to dwindle the
pile, reading one book and then
another. The hours were timeless,
the two of us thoroughly immersed
in “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” or
the poetry of Shel Silverstein.
At other times, the living room
couch pillows, blankets, and sheets,
were transformed, built into a safe
cave, in which to hide, escape from
the real world. When “kitten” and I
were invited along, the three of us
spent cozy time in Dani’s man-made
cave.
Then there was the construction
of a giant spiderweb made of yarn.
Dani’d stretch it from one end of
the living room, diagonally across
to the other. The intricate webbing,
the kitten dancing in its midst…
Great fun on any rainy day!
She transformed the kitchen into
a stage, taking flying leaps across
the open space with me as her audience.
She placed one chair for that
purpose, facing the dance floor. On
went the Nutcracker music: “Dance
of the Sugar Plum Fairies,” and up
went Dani, flying across the room,
straight toward the refrigerator…
Watch out! No gym could be better
exercise!
Other times I was down on all
fours… The race of The Tortoise
and The Hare was on! Dada dada,
dada dada… The Hare was off and
running! Then, “Yawn, I think I’ll
stop for a rest,” said the hare, cocky
he’d surely win. Well, He didn’t! We
laughed and laughed!
Then mom would arrive home,
our time together over for the day.
“See you tomorrow!” I’d wave…
Our times together morphed into
talks on our ride home from school,
about friends, life, the
world. Or, we rode in silence, as
needed. We had days, and memories
I wouldn’t trade for the world.
But now they were ended, like a
“Not needed” old wooden sign
nailed to a shut door.
But really, I knew. This is one time
being fired was really fine! I’m proud
to see her move on, wanting to be a
doctor, taking her first step. Alone.
A firing, an ending, but for both
of us knowing, the world is our
oyster
Grandma acing an early employee
evaluation
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February 2019 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 27