Best Friends

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As many here know from many of my posts, my husband retired 2 1/2 years ago and spends his weekdays with our sweet little twin granddaughters. He takes them to an Early ON playgroup every morning. IT is there that the children have learned social skills, how to follow instructions by doing simple crafts and enjoy having a book read to them. And that was all that was expected for that time period in their young lives and in my husband's early years of his retirement. In the early days of going to that group, there was a mother, and her sister, who used to smile and come to talk with Grandpa. The mother and Grandpa became good friends, her children call him Grandpa. And that name caught on. He gets regular hugs and smiles from the many children he sees daily there who call him Grandpa. They formed a good friendship, which grew to a wonderful group of friends. We celebrate the children's birthdays together at each other's homes and socialize as much as we can. In early June the mother and her 2 littles embarked on a 2 month trip back to her homeland of the Philippines. Our granddaughters missed her son and daughter tremendously. They have returned, and yesterday they were at playgroup. It was held outside at the splashpad, since summer is so short-lived and they have a lovely splashpad there. When Grandpa and the girls arrived, the friend and her children were at the splashpad. When Harper saw her best friend, Joe, they ran to each other while screaming and hugged for a long time. They were SO happy. And Willow ran to his sister and they laughed together and held hands. She is autistic and doesn't like alot of touching, but loves to hold your hand. And Grandpa and his friend were reunited and so filled with joy to see how happy the children were to be reunited. She brought back lovely dresses for the girls from her trip. The girls are 3 1/2 years old and they have been 'best friends' with Joe and Antonia for 2 1/2 years. That is more than the learning to socialize that their parents had hoped for the girls as an outcome from going to program. But then again, it is another generation in the driver's seat, and he does things whole heartedly. Do you remember your first best friend?