A Whirlwind Named Malakai

My father loved children. He would have been happy with a houseful, I think. But he was satisfied with a little girl to dote on. And he did dote on me, as I did on him. He was 40 years old when I was born. The doctor came out of the delivery room and asked my father what he wanted. Poppa said, "Twin girls!" "Be happy you have one healthy daughter, congratulations!" Thirty seven years later I gave birth to the twin girls Poppa had wanted. He didn't see his grandaughters, but every time I find a penny on the ground I wonder if he's saying hello or if it's Bob checking in. When you have 10 children (8 lived to reach adulthood) as my grandparents did, you look to the older ones to help. My father apparently did his share of "looking after" and loved the youngest child, his baby sister Sa, most of all. I was called "Sa" by my father as often as I was called "Penny". I didn't mind. "Sa" sounds like a "grown-up" name. "Penny" was cute when I was a three foot tall, towheaded curly top who Aunt Paul (Pauline) nicknamed "Poodle", but when you are a 6 foot tall woman, it's vaguely embarrassing. I haven't felt like a "Penny" in almost a half century. Think about that when you name your children, please. I gave my daughters "adult" names as a result... Lucia Louise Emanuela, Jocelyn Bryan, Mary Noel. We call Malakai "Mali" now. I'll make a conscious effort to change that to Mal by the time he's 10 or so. Noel named her daughter Ava Grace. I approve. It's a woman's name. I saw Mali for the first time in 15 months two days ago. To him, I was a stranger. This is where my father's influence comes in... 39 years after his death. Poppa loved children but he always waited for them to come to him. When their parents introduced them, Poppa would say "Hello" and then kept talking to the adults. He wouldn't hug the children or kiss them. He waited. They always came to him. I employed this strategy with my angelic little grandson and... it worked. By dinner time he was sitting in my lap. The photo above with Lucia was taken last summer. The "jam session" photo was taken Wednesday morning. Look at him checking out Gramma! He is considerably less reserved now! He calls his mother "Ma" and me, "Momma". His mother, generously, encourages that.