Treasure

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“The truly rich person is the one who has a satisfied mind. The affluence of satisfaction comes from wisdom, not from external things.”

Lam Yeshe, When The Chocolate Runs Out

 It’s that season again. Rage seems to rule the roads and people are desperate to get where they were supposed to be three days ago. I’m laying low, trying to stay out of the frenzy. The gifts that will be passed out on Christmas day are wrapped and ready to go. Soon I’ll be on the road myself to North Carolina to be with my “kids.”

I wonder how much taller they will have grown.  Is eleven year old Zoe’s shoe size the same as mine yet?  It was getting close the last time I visited in August.  She has the coolest footwear and I can’t wait to be able to see how her pink high tops, studded with gems will look on me.  I think she’s afraid I’m going to run off with her shoes, but all I want to do is try them on and walk around the room once or twice pretending I’m her age.

That’s probably why when she was a tiny, little girl, just beginning to talk, she named me, Batty.  When she was born I claimed I was too young to be a grandmother and didn’t want to be called Grammy, Nana, Grandma or anything else that referred to me as “grand” and therefore “old.”  She apparently heard me and simply started calling me, Batty, when she decided I needed a name.  It has stuck. I’m also known to my little nieces as Aunt Batty.

I can relate.  There are claims that my Grandmother on my mother’s side was “crazy.”  I’ve always believed that all humans are a bit crazy, at least the ones I like to hang out with, so I think the name Batty is just perfect for me.   Zoe recognizes me for who I truly am!

I can’t wait to see Noah’s sunny smile and give him a great big hug. He always gives me a little gift when I arrive … maybe one of his tiny matchbox cars or a bracelet he made out of a pipe cleaner and the tabs from soda cans.  I wonder what it will be this time.  He has promised to perform his speech as he gave it one night at school when he took on the character of Edgar Allan Poe.  And maybe he’ll show me the ball room dance steps he’s been learning.  Maybe we’ll dance together.

Zoe and Noah are my treasure.  The ones I feel grateful for every morning when I wake up.  They are better than chocolate.  They are better than jewels, furs, fancy boats and all the stuff that people buy to keep up with the Joneses.  I could live without my computer and my Ipad.  But I could not live without my two grandchildren.