Today was a good day. After a horrible infection in her throat and mouth, Lil C ate solid food for the first time in a week. D and I took our daughter and grandchildren to the ocean near Los Osos CA. On the way we stopped for lunch at Subway where Lil C handled the seating arrangements and made sure she would be sitting with Pop-pop.

At the beach I played with E in the sand and carried him all over the beach. He found some little tiny shells for me to hold. Then Lil C and I sat on a rock next to the crashing waves and she told me how she was scared by the noise and size of the water, and listened while I explained that fear can be a good thing, and asked me to climb with her on the rock but not help because she could do it herself, and showed me a little tidal water puddle on the rock. After family pictures we headed around the beach to the tide pools on the other side.

At some point on the way back to the car I realized that I hadn’t noticed any heart issues all day. I hadn’t felt anything bad other than some slight instability due to my medications. In fact there was a lightness to my gait, even through the heavy sand on the beach. I hadn’t felt like a grandfather all day, I’d felt like a father. I felt like I’d gone back 30 years in my life.

We continued on up the coast to Morro Bay, watched the sea otters play in a sheltered spot along the shore, walked through the shops by the bay, bought a toy jet for Lil C (she loves planes “I really like jets!” ever since seeing Planes in the theater), enjoyed some of the best salt water taffy I’ve ever had, and shared a pleasant dinner on the ocean where, once again, Lil C handled seating arrangements so Meema would sit next to her and Pop-pop across from her.

As we drove back through the coastal mountains toward home, we spotted a whimsical herd of dinosaurs on a hillside dangerously near town. Fortunately they were frozen in time, apparently the sculpted creations of a fancier of prehistoric times. Meanwhile, Lil C and E slept soundly, exhausted by a day of sun, wind and waves, until, as we approached home, Lil C awakened and asked, “Meema and Pop-pop, do you want to come home with us? Then would you play with me? And that’s exactly what we did.

Yeah, it was a good day, a great day, a real tear-jerker of a day in the best possible way. And for a day I didn’t feel old, I didn’t feel like an aging diabetic with a heart condition, I didn’t feel like a stuck in a chair old gray grandpa. I felt like a young Dad again, just for a day.

I felt loved…Pops