Just One of the Girls

This past weekend, our dear friend, George, came to visit and brought his almost-ninety-four-year-old mother with him. George’s mother, Helen, is the most spry ninety-four-year-old I’ve ever met. Despite the walker she uses to get around, she is eager to explore, meet new people, and experience new things. My daughters, ages seventeen and nineteen, adore her and couldn’t wait to have her visit us.

Everywhere we went, the girls insisted that Helen be with with them – the car, the restaurants, the dinner table, everywhere. They wanted to hear the story about how she met and fell in love with her husband. They wanted to hear tales about her sons when they were young. Most of all, they wanted her to teach them about her favorite pastimes – crocheting, jewelry-making, and other crafts. The more craft projects she told them about, the more they wanted to learn.

Before the end of the weekend, our house had become a mecca of bead-making. Katie and Morgan invited their grandmother and their friends over to share in Helen’s wisdom of making paper beads. They sat together, for hours, making bead after bead, while George filmed the craft lesson and I took pictures. After a long while, Helen and George left to go back to their B&B (our two-level house not conducive to a walker). Katie and Morgan hugged Helen goodbye and went back to their work. When the sun hung low in the summer sky, and the kitchen began to grow dim, we insisted that they give up their work for the night and rest their fingers and eyes.

When Ken and I laid in bed that night, a warm, happy feeling encircled us both. Something about the day was so special, so beautiful. Girls who normally spent their spare time playing video games, running the tennis court, or watching Netflix, spent the better part of the weekend gleaning every morsel of knowledge they could from a woman nearly eight decades older than them. I’m pretty sure that the casual observer would have seen no more than a group of women sitting at a table playing with paper; but what we saw was a ninety-year-old woman, her eyes sparkling with delight, hanging out with the girls, reliving her teenage years, and remembering what it’s like to be a teenage girl, accepted by the other girls as a true friend. And it was a beautiful sight to behold.

The second book in Amy’s Chincoteague Island Trilogy, Island of Promise, is now available in stores and online.

 Amy Schisler is an award-winning author of both children’s books and sweet, faith-filled romance novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her books, Picture Me, Whispering Vines, and Island of Miraclesare all recipients of Illumination Awards, placing them among the top inspirational fiction books of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Whispering Vineswas awarded the 2017 LYRA Award for the best romance of 2016.  Island of Miracleshas outsold all of Amy’s other books worldwide and ranked as high as 600 on Amazon. Her latest children’s book, The Greatest Gift, is now available; and her novel, Summer’s Squall, can be found online and in stores.

You may follow Amy on Facebook at http://facebook.com/amyschislerauthor, Twitter @AmySchislerAuth, Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/amyschislerand at http://amyschislerauthor.com.

Amy’s books: Crabbing With Granddad (2013), A Place to Call Home (2014), Picture Me (2015), Whispering Vines (2016), Island of Miracles (2017), Stations of the Cross Meditations for Moms (2017), The Greatest Gift (2017), Summer’s Squall (2017), Island of Promise (2018).