I can't believe no one has mentioned "Doggie"!!He wasn't around long I think Spike banned him over something...I just remember when his wife came in and posted that he had passed away suddenly...He wrote the most incredible poem...I'll share it with ya... "Doctor Time" When we lose a loved one and we're in despair Doctor Time is already there He's treating us all, we're unaware When our loved one is gone and on their way Doctor Time helps us move on day to day He treats the anger, grief and sorrow with a medicine he calls "Tomorrow" As the days, weeks and months go by we just look back and wonder why Such a beautiful person had to die But deep inside we feel okay We have lived to see another day He's calmed the anger, grief and sorrow, we took the medicine he calls "Tomorrow" Doctor Time has one thing to say Time heals all wounds day by day I remember he posted this poem to someone's post who had lost a loved one and he died shortly thereafter...

I agree with what Suzieque posted. You're an instigator, Glenda, whether you realize it or not. Many times you have posted something vague, and when folks ask questions, you get your tail feathers up and come out swinging. I agree, hugs are wonderful, and are to be cherished, remembered, and kept close to the heart. But your grandson would have given you huge, happy, loving, heartfelt hugs in response to your gift to him even if he'd given you a gift (cheap gift or expensive gift, or somewhere in between). His hugs in those photographs were in response to the fishing boat you gave him -- they should not have been, and I don't believe they were - his Christmas gift to you. It's even posted, somewhere not too far above: "Posted by glenda_al (My Page) on Tue, Dec 28, 10 at 23:20 If U cannot say anything nice about my gift giving DONT, darn it. I did what I did and that is it, pure and simple! Leave me alone!" So, you were all huffy about perceived reactions to YOU GIVING A GIFT TO YOUR GRANDSON, when, in fact, this entire discussion was started by you with the subject line My gift from GS: it's flat and oval And you could have easily avoided a whole lot of this if, when you finally responded to all of the requests to find out what it was that your grandson gave you, you had said something like, "he, his father, and his stepmother all gave me..." and said what those gift were. Instead, your response as to what your grandson gave you was this: "Hugs, big hugs! That was it. I appreciated that." It's really not fair to call foul when you started it.

How frightening for your nephew and those who love him. My thoughts immediately turned to meningitis, because my husband developed a case which left him incapacitated for nearly three months. Took forever to get it diagnosed properly because his case just didn't fit the typical situation.....it was triggered by a surgical procedure on his spine. We learned, then, that meningitis can be caused by traumatic brain or spinal injury, drug interactions, contaminated steroid injections, sinus infections, and other agents. His symptoms were severe, desperate pain, terrible nausea and vomiting, and the inability to stand or walk unaided. He recovered over time and was finally able to return to work. I hope that whatever your nephew is dealing with resolves soon. I am envious over your beautiful king snake! I keep hoping to see a slithering resident in our yard.

I always knew I wanted to have children. I'm an only child and I used to beg my parents for a brother or sister. My father was one of 10 and my mother one of 6, so perhaps that's why they only had 1! I also knew I would never have just one child. I would have been very disappointed if I had not had grandchildren. It's a lovely thing to see ones own children being wonderful parents. I adore my grandchildren but I told DD that while we would enjoy babysitting from time to time, I did not want a regularly scheduled time - far too confining. But a call to see if we'd be willing to take them? Absolutely! I think I'm getting the younger next week while they take the elder to college! One of my grandchildren is adopted and I love him just as much as the others. My late husband had an adopted younger sister and so it seemed very natural to us both. He's a very dear boy. Having said I didn't want a regular time, I did agree to help DD when her eldest started 1st grade (he did Kindergarten at his nursery school). She asked me if I would come over the first two weeks of school, when school got out and just be sure DGS got organized and did his homework. By this time, her husband was a SAHF but he is so severely ADHD that he would not be good at doing this. I was glad to help her out and did so. After two weeks, she said that DGS liked me being there and would I be willing to continue? My husband had died the year before and I was pretty much at loose ends, so I said yes. I did this Mon-Thurs until 2nd son finished 5th grade. We all enjoyed the time together. DD and I have very similar parenting styles, and similar philosophies about homework being the responsibility of the student, not the parent. I was just there if they had a question, to sign that I'd seen their homework/graded work etc. I taught them to look things up, first on my iPhone and later on my iPad. I often took a book to read. If they had trouble, I helped them figure it out. If they wanted to be quizzed, I quizzed them. I don't know if I would have done this if DH had still been alive. Actually, I know it would have been DH who would have done this - he was a teacher and would have loved it. But I very much enjoyed the bond that we got from this. I was not tied down in any way - if I were sick, the weather was horrid, or was going to be out-of-town, I was under no obligation. I also rent a house for 4 weeks each summer and DD's boys are always there the entire 4 weeks. When they were young, there was a babysitter along as well - I was not missing my beach time to stay home with napping children! Parents were there, too, for varying times. It's been very special for me and when I come back home, I go into "boy-withdrawal"! I'm quite comfortable being alone, but I sure enjoy their company and all their friends in and out all the time. I love that I can do this for them. I have a couple of friends whose children will never have children. They are greatly disappointed as they had looked forward to doing various thing with grands. They certainly respect their children's decisions, but are sorry that this is what they want.