Remembering Elliana: My Equal Opposite

Candace was my birthday present, Erin was my Father's Day gift, and Elliana was my equal opposite. Our birthdays are exactly six months apart. We used to play a game in which Elliana would ask me how old I would be when she was a certain age. I would always be forty-seven-and-a-half years older than she would be! 

Obviously, she and I were equally people and opposing genders, but she was large, and I was small. Plus, she moved slowly, and I was quick. Despite that, we were best friends from the start. If she saw me somewhere when she was a toddler, she wanted to hang out with me. That was almost always fine with me! Of course, that changed when friends started coming over, but all good things unfortunately come to an end.

Remembering Elliana: Shopping for School Clothes

Thinking back, I don't recall ever shopping for school clothes, except for taking the girls to the store and picking them up. By the time my ex departed for the east coast, the girls were able to get what they needed with me only needing to provide money and transportation. 

Taking Elliana out to get school clothes, then, had to be my first effort at buying school clothes. 

It was also my last!

Remembering Elliana: Her First Shots

Javier called me somewhat in a panic. Elliana had been crying incessantly since she had her shots earlier in the day, and he could not figure out what the problem was. He had tried feeding her. Her diaper didn't need changing. She was uncomfortable and crying.

This was a job for Papa, so I headed over to see what I could do. Sure enough, she was crying uncomfortably when I got there.

Remembering Elliana: Elliana’s First Mariners Game

I was eleven when we went to San Diego to visit my uncle and his family. It was there that I saw my first major league baseball game. The Padres were playing the Giants. Juan Marichal pitched, Willie Mays was in center, and Willie McCovey was at first! All of these superstars were amongst the greatest players of the day!

Jump forward forty years to 2009. The Mariners had a new GM and a new manager. They also had an old, familiar face as that was the year Ken Griffey Jr. rejoined the team with which he began his illustrious career. He no longer played center field, but was primarily the designated hitter. He had struggled with the bat that season, so it was thought that he would retire that year.

I wanted my then four year old granddaughter, Elliana, to be able to say she saw him play, so she, Papa Mike, and I made our way north to see the final game of the season against the Texas Rangers.

Remembering Elliana: Blowing Bubbles

Note: This was written by me on July 28, 2009. That date has no significance to the reader. It has significance to me, because it means that I was inspired to write about this actual event, on Elliana's fourth birthday.

I only remember that when I open it to read it. It seems dust gets in my eyes when I do that, too.

I hope you enjoy it.

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Remembering Elliana: The Rules to Taggeret (Video Reading Included)

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Elliana has several cultures in her genetic makeup. Her father has indigenous and Mexican blood on his side of the family. 

Elliana spent a lot of time with him at his father's home when she was young. 

I picked her up one day from Papa Ed's place. She told me that she and her young uncles and cousins played a game called taggeret. They had been playing it for a while. 

This was the first time I had heard of the game. She could explain it to me since she was just learning to speak. I asked her how the game was played. 

Remembering Elliana: Soaking Papa at Work

The final part of the day of work at Transpro was washing and putting away the van. Candace arrived while I was washing the van one sunny day, so I had Elliana, who was three years old, rinse the van while I finished washing it. 

Another driver walked up and decided to have some fun with the situation. He told Elliana that he would give her a dollar if she sprayed me with the hose. She looked at me a bit bewildered. She loves her papa, but a dollar is a dollar.

Bonding With Gemma

Candace and I began bonding on the day she was born. I loved holding her, and she loved me holding her, too.

That instant bonding process was repeated when Erin was born, and again when Elliana was born. They were comforted when I held and cuddled them from the first days they were born.

I was able to calm any upset any of the three of them had with the security and love they felt in my arms. There was no reason to believe that it would be different when Gemma was born.

I was certainly wrong about that!

Gemma not only did not want me to hold her, it seemed she did not even like me!

Playing With Gemma

Gemma did not like me when she was a baby. Her lip would quiver when I looked at her, and she would start crying as soon as I picked her up. It took a lot of effort on my part to get her to bond with me.

Eventually we bonded, and now I am one of her favorite people to play with!

The reason she loves playing with me boils down to two elements that are important to her: she makes up all the rules, and she always wins.

Back to School

Though I have thought often about going back to school myself so I could finish up my Associate’s degree, or just take some classes that might interest me, I have not yet done that. However, now that I have switched from being a driver with highly irregular hours to being a dispatcher with a set schedule that begins in the afternoon, I may do it soon.

Build-A-Bear With the Grandkids

Though it was truly Gemma’s second Christmas, 2013 was really the first one she would start grasping the concept. She was barely a month old the previous year. Linda and I got both Elliana and Gemma something they could unwrap and gift certificates to Build-A-Bear.

It was time to cash those in a week or two later. Candace, of course, wanted to be there to share her baby’s first experience making her own stuffed animal.