Life's Lens: A Tribute to my Father and His Father

I have a vivid memory of my grandfather rocking my baby sister to sleep in his chair at his house. He was crying, and my 7 year old self didn’t understand why. Shouldn’t he be happy? He was rocking his newest granddaughter, a moment that all grandparents love. I remember then asking my parents, “Why is Poppa crying?” They said, “He wishes Grandma could be here, too.” She had died just a few weeks prior to this moment. I wish I had a picture of that precious moment of my Poppa rocking my sister. I take comfort in knowing that there are lots of pictures of him with the babies of the family because he always loved rocking them.

And like father, like son, my dad likes rocking babies to sleep as well. He waited years to have a grandchild to rock to sleep. Finally on his birthday 6 years ago, I gave him his first grandson. Then 19 months later, another one. My brother and his wife brought the first granddaughter into our family for him to rock, and a week later my husband and I had the 2^nd granddaughter in the family.

I am so grateful to witness so many precious moments of my dad rocking these babies. It is a joy of his heart and I am overjoyed to be a part of it. This Thanksgiving there will be another grand baby for him to rock to sleep, thanks to my brother and his wife. His cup overflows!