I walk into Nick and Kate’s house and look up the stairs. Right there in front of me is my granddaughter, Collins.

She’s 10 months old now and she brings so much joy into our lives, with just a smile and a hug.

The other day I was babysitting for the kids and decided to take her outside to explore the backyard. Watching her touch the trees with a gentle hand, staring up at the leaves with a look of wonder, seeing her lean into the gentle breeze and turn her face towards it, makes me do the same thing. She can take an ordinary sight and turn it into something I’m “seeing” for the first time.

The bark of the tree has so many dimensions, some of it is rougher and appears peaked like a mountain range, while there are other sections filled with holes and small branches with tiny leaves making their appearance.

I set Collins down on the basketball court and she is fascinated by the black ants scurrying about their business. She tries to touch them, but they’re too fast and her frustration makes me laugh out loud. It startles her, my laughter in the quiet, but then she looks up, her eyes meet mine and they start to twinkle and I see Nick in that moment and she laughs with me.

We move over to the grass and she sees the dandelions. Oh she loves the dandelions, she picks one and I do as well. I touch her cheek with it and she laughs a little because it tickles. I touch her nose with it and I remember being little and playing with dandelions myself. Do you remember them? What they felt like, tasted like, and the yellow that came off of them onto our faces?

Having Collins in my life has been such a great adventure. She is showing me how beautiful the world really is. The miracles of spring, the new life out there, the beauty of the dandelions and the sensation of the warm breeze and sun on my face.

I thank God that He gives us a second chance at living through a child again in our “later” years.

Being a Grandma is such a blessing and I am so grateful at this stage in my life I get to slow down and soak it all in without the worry of a schedule. Collins and I just get to live in the moment as we explore this wonderful world together and it is good, very very good.