#342 - Don't Like Pandemic Grandma Club

​So Many Grandma Friends

Today while traveling,  I sat in the passenger seat and selfishly entertained myself on Facebook. Scrolling through posts, I was quickly reminded that I have a lot of friends, who recently became grandmas. I would have preferred becoming a grandparent, without a pandemic. But, this pandemic club does bond us.

​Heidi's First Friend

Heidi gave birth to Charlotte, this past Valentine's Day. Days later, my old friend from St. Louis reached out in a text and told me her daughter was also expecting a baby. Here I am with Patti and our little girls... long, long ago.

Today I noticed this bit of news, while peeking at social media.
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Patti's daughter made the news! Haley received both doses of Moderna, before her baby was born. Tests show that her baby has high levels of antibodies! Great news! 

Mind Wandering

As we drove along the highway, I had a good time thinking back to when Haley and Heidi were babies. Patti and I were pregnant together and  we were so delighted when our little girls became such good buddies.

How curious that our daughters were born in 1986 and then both became mothers in 2021, during the pandemic... 10 days apart! I wish we weren't living in 4 states, or we 6 "girls" could get together!

More Pandemic Babies

We moved from St. Louis to Tulsa when Heidi was 4. We were thrilled when the Hart family moved in across the street. We spent 7 years running back and forth between houses. Heidi and Leigh Anne got in a tiny bit of mothering practice with their American Girl Dolls. Mostly they ran and played and laughed together, from age 4 to 11.

2+ decades later, both girls were married and expecting baby girls, during a pandemic. I'm so glad they've kept in touch. I'm so grateful that Leigh Anne's mom and I have also. It's been fun to cheer each other on from afar, as we've became grandmothers. We used to wonder what it would be like when our girls had babies... we never guessed that we'd not be able to be at the hospital, because of a pandemic! We never guessed our girls would have baby girls, just 3 months apart.

Further Back

My mind wandered further back in time, today. I thought about the first friend I ever had, that became pregnant. Claire and I were college buddies... very silly college buddies. Her first child was born years before mine. She was a grandparent years before me.

We lost touch for years, but have communicated during the pandemic. Over a month ago, when we were still in Portland, I got a text from Claire. She was in Portland (from Utah) watching her grandchildren for a week. She knew I was in Portland, awaiting the arrival of a grand baby. We talked on the phone, cracking each other up, like the old days. I can't imagine how much fun it would be to see Claire as a grandma... paintbrushes and roller-skates! We were both pretty silly 40+ years ago and we still are. But we take our kids and grandkids seriously. Neither one of us wanted to risk getting together, even though a meet up would have been a very quick drive.
 
I'm glad that things are changing. Pregnant women are getting vaccines and maybe they won't have to wear masks during childbirth. Grandparents are getting vaccinated and finally seeing their grandkids. It's so nice to realize things will be different by the time I have another grandchild. Chances are good that we won't be in the midst of a pandemic!
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