Granddaddy

My parents were here yesterday to pick my youngest brother up from the airport. They arrived early in the morning so we could spend some time at the zoo before lunch. While all the kids love Nana and Granddaddy, Emma adores my father. When he walks in the door she comes up to me and very reverently says, "Granddaddy is HERE!" She then spends the next 15 minutes in his arms with her head on his shoulder and her eyes closed in bliss, occasionally she'll look up and him or stroke the side of his face. I am thankful beyond measure that my kids have four doting grandparents and that in this crazy Navy life that we're currently close enough for them to spend time with them on a regular basis. While I now understand that my grandparents loved me as best as they knew how, I was never particularly close to them, especially as we got older. I do have good memories with my dad's parents, Myrtle Beach was a great place for a kid to get to go on vacation each summer. What I missed was what I saw with my dad and daughter this weekend. Emma's love and adoration for her granddaddy literally brought tears to his eyes. In his arms nothing can get to her, not even a velociraptor...