My Little Red Heads

My little red heads changed my life! They were my first grandchildren who had lived all their lives in the city where I live.

One evening when Ranae was about 18 months old, I went over to pick her up because both of her parents were sick. When I started for the car I couldn't find my keys. My daughter said, "Ask Ranae where they are." How could a tiny little lady know where my keys were. I found a key in my bill fold and started the car. I looked around, and Ranae handed me the lost keys!

She was a quick learner. She learned how to bat a ball, and it was not safe to get too close to her when she was at bat, because she could really hit that ball! She gave me a new grandpa name. She called me PaPa.

She was very observant of their pastor at church, and began to stand on a little stump in our back yard and preach away! When her little sister, Danielle, was born, Ranae was three. She asked me,"Who is going to be Danielle's PaPa?" When I told her I was, she replied "Oh no you're not, you are MY PaPa!" The rivalry had begun.

My wife and I frequently kept them over a weekend. Ranae liked to play like she was the teacher. She would be teaching away, and if Danielle did something she didn't like she would point her finger at Danielle to reprimand her. Danielle would "go into orbit" and refuse her sister's pointed finger. The girls played all kinds of pretend games--school, hotel, restaurant, etc.

When I would pick them up for a weekend, we would go to my house, make out our weekend menu, and then go to their favorite grocery store to buy the groceries. They knew their way around in the store.

My wife became terminally ill. One morning, I went up to the hospital to try to decide what to do. My daughter and girls came up. Ranae told me that she had a dream about Granni. She said that Granni was in heaven. I asked her what Granni was doing. She replied, "She was a dancing!" That broke the emotional log jam. We laughed and cried, and I knew it was time to let Granni go on to be with the Lord.

The girls continued to spend a lot of time with me, and I really enjoyed it!

The girls were very observant as I began a little dating after my wife died. Over a three month period I had three dates with a widow at church. One day she called me to come over, that she had baked some cookies. The purpose of the invitation was to tell me she didn't have time for me. When I told Ranae about this, she compared it to baseball--three strikes and you are out. She later wrote me a letter and told me not to play baseball any more. The girls later played a role in the courtship of my second wife.

Time has passed, and they are no longer my "little redheads." Ranea has married, and Danielle will soon be a senior in high school. Both have developed their own personalities, and are beautiful young women who are looking forward to the careers they feel the Lord is guiding them.

We don't spend weekends together, but family gatherings are always a great pleasure!