The Extraordinary Ordinary Says a Lot About Grandparents

THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY SAYS A LOT ABOUT GRANDPARENTS

Every week or so I take the trip from Charlotte, NC to Asheville, NC to work on our internet businesses with my son, Chuck. Last week I stayed overnight so my 4 year old granddaughter, Ceili and I could take her Dad to breakfast for his birthday. I was sipping coffee in their dinning room when this beautiful sleepy angel came around the corner and curled up on my lap with Mr. Froggy in tow. Ain’t life wonderful? If I concluded this thought right here you would have the perfect picture of the “Extraordinary Ordinary”.

I am a really good grandpa, I know all about grandparents rights and responsibilities. I also know that it is this grandparents right

to celebrate these glorious moments with these little fountains of love, joy and surprise. That same day when I was supposed to be helping Chuck with some business stuff I was asked a question that only a 4 year old with blue eyes and a silly grin knows how to ask to get a yes every time. “Grandpa Neil will you watch Sesame Street with me?” Welllllllllllllll, of course sweetheart. I don’t care how corny this sounds but I spent the next hour wrapped in fun and wonder . This particular episode was sponsored by the letter “U” and the number “14”. You do realize that Elmo says you have to take off her shoes and socks to get to the number 14 and this leads to a detour for “This little piggy went to market and this little piggy went home.” It is also a well known fact amongst grandparents that a giant “U” drawn on the bare belly will get a roll in the isles laugh every time. Ah!!!! The sound of a child’s laughter, that is the sound of the “Extraordinary Ordinary”.

Thornton Wilder, playwright for one of the most frequently staged American plays “Our Town” said his play was an “attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life”. The epitome of simplicity is that his set consisted of a blank stage with tables, chairs and a bench. This enduring work of art is a perfect picture of the “Extraordinary Ordinary”.

No matter the situation there is the seed of an extraordinary event right smack in the middle of it. Two weeks ago a miracle happened when JAYCEE LEE DUGARD , who had been kidnapped at age 11, was discovered in Antioch, California after 18 long and dark years of wondering and worrying. She was reunited with her family and according to her aunt, Tina Dugard, there was an “instant connection….it was almost a genetic connection….an instant sense of family for all of us”. Terry Probyn, Jaycee’s mom and the entire family was doing normal “family things”. “There was laughing and crying and sitting quietly and holding hands”. There was a lot of sitting next to each other. Once again, out of a horror story comes the perfect picture of the “Extraordinary Ordinary”.

Just look around and you will find such events, they call it Serendipity.

BE WELL AND FIND HAPPY!! NEIL