Grandpa Jim

Brynlee is starting to get to the age/point where she understands relationships...sort of. She understands that Uncle Bubba (Kyle), Aunt Ashley, and Aunt Shelby are Mommy's brother and sisters. She also seems to get that Uncle Eric and Aunt Lacey are Daddy's brother and sister. She still refers to Baby Laynea (cousin) as her little sister though. One thing she can't quite grasp is that Noni is Mommy's Mommy and NawNaw is Daddy's Mommy. Nope, she hasn't figured that out yet. If I try to explain it to her, she kind of gets mad and says, "NO NONI IS MY NONI!!!"

One thing I find funny is that she LOVES her grandpas. She calls my step-dad Paw Paw, Joey's Dad Grandpa, Joey's step-dad Poppy, and Joey's grandpa Papa. She will tell me, "Paw Paw is my favorite" and then the next day, "Grandpa is my favorite" and then "Poppy is my favorite". Basically, whichever grandpa she is around at the moment is her favorite grandpa EVERRRR. She is definitely "Paw Paw's/Grandpa's/Poppy's/PaPa's girl". She runs to them. To be honest, I love when we do family gatherings because Brynlee clings to them, LOL. 

Grandpa and BB feeding the ducks

Brynlee, Paw Paw, and Noni

Poppy, Brynlee, and Ainsley

Recently, my Auntie Edna (dad's sister) came to Texas for her college graduation. We met up for dinner and she showed us a picture of my mom, dad, and brother when my brother was a baby. We showed the picture to Brynlee and I choked up not knowing how to explain to her who my dad was. She'll never meet him and I don't really have that many pictures of him to share with her. I am not sure if my mom caught my hesitation to explain or if she took the opportunity to get to talk about him, but she was quick to save the situation. She pointed to him and said, "That's your Grandpa Jim!" Brynlee just asked who the other two people were and then kept repeating, "That's my Bubba! That's my Noni!" So it didn't phase her to see her Grandpa Jim, but it did phase me. I will tell her about him someday, but right now she just won't get it.

It does make me sad that I will not have pictures of them together. It makes me sad that she won't get to go out on his boat, get chased along the dock until she jumps or falls in the lake (been there, done that), or go fishing with him. She won't get to eat his homemade deer jerky, ride in his pickup belting out "Sweet Home Alabama", or watch him dance like an idiot. It does hurt my heart that he won't meet my awesome little girl. I mean, she's pretty funny and super cute.

I am sure this is many years away, but someday she will be curious about him. Someday she will want to know what happened to him. Someday she will want to hear stories and I will have plenty to tell her about her Grandpa Jim. For now, I will just cherish the fact that she has 4 grandpas who are very involved in her life. And each one is her favorite.