It seems like yesterday that I held my beautiful Benjamin the very first time…

Benjamin and me... the very first time!

And 5 years later, my world has been blessed to beyond forever with the great love Benjamin has brought…

Ben and me - today!

Audrey calls Benjamin “Baby Angel”…

She always has, since the day he was born.

And you know what?

Benjamin calls himself Baby Angel, too!

Benjamin came to bless us, and the universe, 5 years ago this morning.  He came from some beautiful place of heart-melting smiles and sweetness and light and laughter and curiosity and caring.  He is enveloped with angels… lots and lots of them.

Ben’s place in his little family is very interesting.  He is the younger brother of William and Alex, who were 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 respectively, when Ben arrived.

Little did anyone know on Ben’s birthday that he would become a big brother to another brother, Henry, who arrived just 14 months later!

All of these brothers have given Ben constant playmates, friends, supervisors, heroes, teachers, cohorts, comrades & companions.  All of these brothers have created attachments, fellowships, harmonies, warmth, communications & competitions that have shaped the baby, the boy and the man to come.

Ben is a lucky, lucky, blessed, blessed boy.

He is happy when jumping, playing, pretending, imaging he’s Spider-Man, Batman, Indiana Jones, Luigi or an Angry Bird…

The hat is a birthday gift from Pop-up and me!

He’s happy when tossing a tennis ball to Auntie Jane’s pups.

He’s happy when hugging his beloved stuffed animals…

Ben's heart-melting smile!

He’s happy when he eats… and he will try, literally, any food.  Yesterday, it was blackberries!

He’s happy when helping me in my gardens.

He’s happy when playing Webkinz.

He’s happy when cleaning my windows.  Seriously!

He’s happy when drawing or coloring or studying one of his “learning books” or listening to a story.

He’s a HAPPY boy, a HAPPY brother, a HAPPY son and a HAPPY grandson!

Ben’s HAPPY.  He was born HAPPY.

Yes, Ben is surrounded, enveloped, hugged, loved and watched over with angels.  Lots and lots of them!

Today is Baby Angel’s Birthday!  And it’s a glorious day to celebrate this most wonderful, wonderful, wonderful boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL BENJAMIN… our Baby Angel forever!

It began as a lovely, lovely day… this past Friday.

The sun was unseasonably warming the New England earth, air and people.

Everyone was happy.  Everyone was smiling.  Everyone seemed to cherish this unexpected gift.

But one; one man, maybe in his 40′s, in a white sedan on a busy, commercial stretch of road.

I have his face, his voice, his RAGE locked in my mind.  I don’t want him in there, in my mind.  I wish I could expel the face, the backwards baseball cap, the tank top, the obscenities, the RAGE.

But more so, I wish I could erase all of this from the minds of my sweet, innocent, beautiful little grandsons Ben and Henry… who happened to be with me in my car, with our windows rolled down, too, on this lovely, lovely gift of a day on that busy stretch of road.

I had just picked up Ben and Henry from their pre-school swimming lessons, and we were so happy to head outside with no coats or hats or mittens or anything resembling winter.  They had gloriously wet hair… and the open windows let in the warm breeze that dries kids’ hair in the most perfect way.

The boys were debating the grandest dilemma of the day, “Newport Creamery or Johnny Rockets? Johnny Rockets or Newport Creamery?”

I was maybe 5 minutes into the drive in the direction of both restaurants when I saw flashing red lights up ahead.  There was some minor activity… maybe an accident, but not the kind of activity for a major problem.

But oh, well.  It’s such a perfect day, the windows are open, the boys are laughing, their hair is awesome!

That’s when I heard the HONKing.  HONKING.  H-O-N-K-I-N-G.  HOOOOONNNNNKKKKKIIIIINNNNNGGGG. Relentless.  Angry HONKING.

Then I saw an older gentleman in a car to my left, traveling with a tiny lady with white hair in the passenger seat, trying to cut in front of me.  He seemed frantic.  Hurried.  Frazzled.  Confused.  Harried.

The HONKING was coming from the car behind his… and words.  WORDS so incongruous with the lovely day that I honestly couldn’t be sure of my hearing.

(I will abbreviate here)  “F-ING MOVE.  F-ING MOVE.”  HONK.  H-O-N-K.  HOOOOOONNNNNNKKKKKKKK.  SCREAMING.  “F-ING MOOOOOOOVVVVVVVE.”  Over and over and over.

When the older gentleman was safely in my lane, in front of me, I turned my glance at the ANGRY, HONKING man as the elderly man steered his car into the nearest pharmacy parking lot.

The RAGING man didn’t hesitate.

He didn’t stop when he saw the little boys in my car.

He didn’t care.

(Again, abbreviating) “WHAT ARE YOU F-ING LOOKING AT? WHAT ARE YOU F-ING LOOKING AT, BITCH. YOU F-ING C*NT.”

In that nano-second, I rolled up my window and the windows of the boys.

I turned my glance ahead.  Straight ahead.  I knew the RAGING man was right beside me.  I didn’t turn.  I didn’t look.  I wondered if he had a gun.  A weapon.  I had GLANCED at him.  For less than a second.

Ben was saying, “Grandma, that man said mean words to you.”

Henry was saying, “Grandma, why did that man say mean words to you?”

I was calling Barry on my cell phone.  He was 5 or 6 cars behind me, having just left the pool, too… he on his way back to work, me on my way to a special lunch with my sweet guys.

My heart pounded.

My ears could still hear the RAGE.

I tried to get through the next traffic light.  But traffic was so slow, so S-L-O-W.

I told the boys, “The man is angry…”

“But why, Grandma?”

“I’m scared, Grandma… ”

“Don’t look at him.  Please.  Pop-up said to turn into that gas station and wait for him.”

“OK.”

I waited until the last moment possible and then turned into the gas station.  I watched the RAGING man in the white sedan continue along the road.

“Grandma, should you call the police on that mean man?”

Barry was next to my car before I had time to think.  “Where is he?” he asked.  “Did you get his license plate?”

“He took off,” I said.  “I was afraid to look at him or his car.”

By then the accident had been cleared… and the RAGING man in the white sedan was gone.

Fright had suddenly entered this most lovely day.  The boys told Pop-up about the mean man with the mean words and how scary the mean man was. We waited for a few minutes… and then I told Barry that this man would not ruin this perfect day.

Barry headed to work.  I headed to Johnny Rockets… and talked to the boys about how ANGRY people make others feel so small, so frightened, so sad, so helpless.  We talked about how ANGER or frustration can be managed differently.  We talked about anger out of control.  We talked about how ANGER hurts people even when it’s words.  We talked about how frightened the elderly man and woman in the car in front of us must have felt.

A lesson had unwittingly entered our day, and the boys listened.

We headed to Johnny Rockets.  We had burgers and french fries and milkshakes.  We played juke box music with shiny nickels.  We laughed and colored with the brand new crayons.  We laughed and talked… but not about the mean man with the mean words.

Maybe an hour passed.  Maybe more.

Once we were in my car again, windows rolled down, on the road home, Henry said, “Grandma?”

“Yes, Honey?”

“I hope no-one else calls you a BITCH today.”

He screamed the word.  Like the man.  That’s what he heard.

That’s how he heard it.

That’s how impactful and powerful the RAGE was.

Henry not only repeated what was said, but HOW it was said.

He had heard it, internalized it, remembered it.

Henry continued in his sweet, innocent voice, “I didn’t like it, Grandma… ”

I assured Henry and Ben that men like this are very rare… very unusual.

But I wondered at the same time, Where was this guy going?  Home?  To a wife, girlfriend, mother, child, children, grandparent, pet?  Work?  A co-worker?  To an elderly neighbor?

Where was he bringing his RAGE?

I shudder to think about it.

Later that evening, Audrey called and asked me about the man who called me a BITCH.  Ben had told her and Matt about the mean man, too… using the WORD he, too, had heard so clearly, so full of rage, to his Grandma.

In some insidious way, in less than a minute, anger and rage, from a total stranger in a car next to mine on a busy road, had a way of slithering like a poisonous snake into a beautiful day.

Rage is like that… physical, mental and verbal… slithering along, just waiting to strike anyone and anything in its path of poison.

It’s so appalling that I’m left almost speechless.

But I had to purge it… except for the lesson it has left.

And I ask, What would you have done?

No electricity.

No technology.

No downloads.

No television.

No cell phones (well, except to record this!).

Just the joyful sounds of a boy playing catch with a dog on a lovely afternoon.

Time stands still.

Memories flood back.

This ageless, timeless, cherished activity…

No batteries required.

I’ve written about my runDisney Media invitation, my Princess Crown and my new title, Princess Grandma.

I’ve written about the incredible Disney Tangled Royal Family 5k and the heart-melting joy of the runDisney Kids’ Races.

And now I’m writing about my Bibbidi-Bobbidi- Princess Half Marathon BLING that has my grandkids thinking that I *WON the Disney Princess Half Marathon itself…

Well, kids, I didn’t win the race (that was quite beautifully taken care of by Rachel Booth in record time), but I did win when I took my first step on that balmy Orlando morning along with 20,000 or so other winners, and I wear my BLING because I AM a winner!

It’s such an incredible experience to explain to kids, especially grandkids, I think… how winning is beginning, at any age, even 59 and-a-half (halves are important under 10 and over 50!).

There is no age limit on the excitement of waking up at 2:45 am to get ready to be a Princess because you haven’t been able to sleep all night anyway and to hop a coach to the Epcot Wonder Lot… and today is the day you’re running 13.1 miles with thousands and thousands of other princesses through the parks at Disney World, right back to your own childhood fantasies of princesses, fairy tales and dreams come true…

Here I am at 3:30 am at Animal Kingdom Jambo House Resort with some “fellow” runDisney Media princesses Kim Bogin, Colleen Padilla and Brittany Lesser…

(Even at this early hour, note the smiles!  This is a day of smiles!)

There is no age limit on the magic of camaraderie of women (oh, and about 1,400 men) doing something so extraordinary with other women, no matter your age, size, shape, background, training, experience or level of running. Every single one of us walked into the race center as an individual and as part of a group – all winners before the run even began...

Majesty banners welcomed us...

The excitement was palpable... !

I WAS Princess Grandma... !

... and I even had my very own Prince Grandpa to cheer me on!

(Prince Barry/Grandpa found that spectating was a magical experience, too… and found his way to anywhere he wanted to be along the entire race!  More to come a bit later…)

I loved (did I mention loved) having access to tented Disney’s Race Retreat (emphasis on TREAT), thanks to runDisney, where us “media” princesses and anyone who paid a nominal fee were able to beyond comfortably enjoy some breakfast, some drinks, a bag check, awesome & accessible portaJanes and settle into a warm pre-race mood of ahhhhhh!! (and, OK, maybe even a last minute what am I doing??)…

Bananas, bagels, coffee, water, drinks... you name it!

Friend Renee... !

Another friend, Lorraine... !

... and Social Media Princess activity with Renee, Colleen & Katye!

(friends above: Renee Ross, Lorraine Robertson, Colleen Padilla & Katye McNulty)

There is no age limit on making brand-new friendships with women that I, in all probability, would never have met.  One such new friend is Kim Bogin, a fellow runDisney Media invitee, a Mom, a wife, a writer, a runner and wonderful woman with layers and layers of awesome.  We walked together from the Race Retreat to the Race Start, which took about 20 minutes in the early morning mist.  We were surrounded with hundreds, thousands of women heading in the same direction… some with goals to achieve elite personal bests and some with goals just to finish the dream they had begun.

Just about 20 years, 2,000 miles and 1 hour of running 13.1 miles separate Kim and me, but as we walked and talked along together on our way to the Princess Start, I knew that bond that brings people together, women together, on this journey of running, journey of life, journey of stories that we share with each other… and that I get to now share with my 9 beautiful grandkids.  

One last good-luck hug before Kim headed to corral A, the fastest runners’ corral, and I walked along the river of runners to Corrals B – H.

Once in Corral B, I felt that sense of OK, I am really here…

This was only my second Half Marathon.  My first, I ran 2 years ago.  I trained 12 weeks for that.  I did race a Half Ironman and a full Marthon since… but my heart was racing with anticipation, joy and maybe even a bit of fear.  I hadn’t trained for a Half Marathon, but then this Disney Running opportunity magically came my way… and on and on and on…

Until I settled into the women around me… the groups, the friends, the sisters, the co-workers, the dreamers.  The Princesses.

But there is no age limit on 2 strangers in a field of thousands connecting.  A woman next to me and I began chatting up a storm.  Where do you come from?  Is this your first Princess Half?  Who’s running with you?  Isn’t this AWESOME?! Over the joyful noise and music, I learned that she comes from Michigan (I was born in Michigan!), this was her first Half, she had trained with a trainer and had a goal time in mind, she didn’t dress as a princess this time, she wants to do triathlons, her sister began to train with her but was injured, and her sister was there as a spectator. And she loved my outfit…

At the Race Start, Corral B... !

(I would be ditching the magic wand and sweatshirt before Mile 1!)

And oh, my… there is no age limit on the joy, majesty and magic of FIREWORKS as they illuminate the 5:45 am sky just for you, and 20,000 other Disney Princess Half Marathon runners…

… and with my heart pounding and my feet taking flight, this Princess Grandma began her own fairy tale, clicking away at fun and fabulous Disney characters posing with happy, happy runners, and mile markers, all along the route…

The swirl of magic as the race began... !

Oh, my… I wonder what, or whom, tempted ME to stop HERE for a photo…

A gaggle of princes will do this to a Grandma Princess every time... !

The course was filled with happiness, spectated by thousands cheering us on, completely covered in the drink/water/fuel/bathroom stops.

The course sang with music, bands, a choir that brought tears to my eyes, and wonderful entertainment.  There was even a Prince with a glass slipper looking for his Princess.  (Ha, that would not be this old gal!)

And anyway, my own Prince found me at Mile 4, Mile 8 and was waiting waiting for me at Mile 13.1 with a big smile, a giant hug and this…

Yes, that would be a pink Rose with Mickey (or Minnie, in this case) ears... !

There is no age limit to the joy and accomplishment you feel when you begin a dream…

This is what I get to tell my 9 grandkids.  Winning is Beginning.

(*I did finish 88/517 in my Age Group of Female 55-59, and 5,597/15,803 finishers, with a time of 2:32:33.)

I can’t wait ’til the next chapter in my fairy tale, too, as I board my royal coach to another runDisney weekend…

… bringing along my grandkids for the ride and races that memories and dreams are made of.

Hey. Can we all fit in that coach?

I must put this out there right now…

I’m a Grandma.  A Grandma of 9.  (Well, actually, a Princess Grandma of 9, since I ran the Tangled Royal Family 5k and the Princess Half Marathon!)…

Princess Grandma!

My heart melts easily.

But the Disney Royal Family Kids’ Races during the 2012 runDisney Princess Half Marathon Weekend created a whole new category of Grandma melt in my heart!

Last Saturday, when my husband Barry (aka Pop-up) and I arrived at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, located in the heart of Walt Disney World Resort, we were instantly mesmerized with the aura of SPORTS, FUN, ENTHUSIASM, KIDS!  We are a sports family and this day of Disney Royal Family Kids’ Races was a true celebration of sports, family & fun.

We looked at each other and said, “We have to get the kids here!”  (“The kids” are our grandkids – 2 girls & 7 boys – 3-11 years old.)

We could hear the cheering, that great rise of happiness that comes with awesome, fun competition as we headed to the truly state-of-the-art Track & Field showcase.  It was such a beautiful afternoon, too, and everyone was just plain happy.  Us grandparents look for this kind of happiness with our grandkids…

The Kids’ Races get the younger princes & princesses into the fun and action of a runDisney weekend.  Kids ages 13-and under can participate in age-group races from the 100-meter dash to the 1-mile run.  And let’s not forget the infants and toddlers who can even crawl their races, appropriately called Diaper Dashes!

Oh, heart melt again!

Everyone was smiling…

Everyone had a great place to view the races (especially perfect for grandparents!), from the sidelines to the expansive stadium seats…

Everyone had wonderful Disney photo opportunities…

From each start…

To each FINISH…

The afternoon at the races was pure magic!

But the one magical moment that Barry captured from the stadium seats will go down in heart-melt history…

One dream-come-true moment… arms outstretched, ready to embrace the littlest competitor in a swirl of Disney magic.

Ah.

The thing about runDisney is not only the feeling of magic, but the actual magic of getting everyone involved – the entire family.

Barry and I can run.  Our adults kids can run.  Our oldest & youngest grandkids can run.  And I’m talking special runs, where even the littlest ones in our family can wear race t-shirts, get goody-bags & refreshments (kids love refreshments!) and take home awesome race medals!

MAGIC… here we come!

(Maybe all this Family Magic has something to do with the pixie dust in the Disney air!)…

The Fairy Godmother at the Jostens Center Expo!

Something kinda magical, actually.

I might be a grandmother of 9….

BUT I LIKE BEING A PRINCESS!

Call me Princess Grandma!

This Royal Transformation came about as many modern Royal Dreams do… through the world of Disney.

It began when I was invited to the 2012 Princess Half Marathon Meet-Up, where princesses (and yes, princes) gather with other princesses, princes, Disney characters and running Olympians/greats/experts/consultants such as Minnie Mouse, Jeff Galloway, Rachel Booth, Betty Wong and Suzy Favor Hamilton to talk, well, about running and the pure magic of encouraging many, many tens of thousands of runners, especially women, of all ages and capabilities to RunDisney…

2012 Disney Princess Half Marathon Meet-Up Cast of Characters!

Jeff Galloway - Olympian, author and Disney Training Consultant

Rachel Booth - Disney's Princess Half Marathon and Historic "Coast to Coast'' Milestone winner

Betty Wong - Editor in Chief, FITNESS

Suzy Favor Hamilton - Olympian & Motivational Speaker

The most regal Mouse

The most gracious Jeff Galloway and me

Beautiful & inspiring Suzy Favor Hamilton and me

A lovely lady whom I've known my entire life!

… and to actually RUN with Jeff, Rachel, Betty and Suzy through Epcot very early on Friday morning…

But I think the official PRINCESS transformational moment happened when I caught a glimpse of this…

My very own TIARA!

(OK.  OK.  So we each got one.  But this only adds to the magical discovery that each of us has the strength and character to rise to whatever level of life, challenge, dream, hope or wish we may carry in our hearts.)

For me, the discovery came a little later in life. I didn’t begin my running journey until I was 56 years old… a bit over 3 years ago.  By then, I was a Grandma of 9 beautiful little grandchildren – 2 girls and 7 boys.  I basically just put on an old pair of my daughter Jane’s running shoes one night, opened my back door and took my first step.

I never imagined back then, in my wildest dreams, that I would ever be considered a RUNNER, never mind be invited to a RunDisney weekend event, filled with the air and aura of 20,000 or so running princesses.

This is where the magic kicks in.

I hesitated to accept the invitation to the RunDisney event because I hadn’t been training or putting in the miles to run 13.1 miles, and we had had a recent family medical emergency. I’m sort-of the matriarch of my very big family (4 kids, 4 in-law kids, 9 grandkids, 1 husband! and my own Mom)… the unofficial (very unofficial and self-appointed) Queen, if you will.

But with the incredible encouragement of my family, my husband Barry and I took flight to Disney World.

Once there, especially on that Friday morning running through Epcot with dazzlingly happy faces all around me, I realized that I had never RUN a race or event very far from my home.  I’ve done 5k’s, 10k’s, 10-milers, 13.1, a Half Ironman and 26.2 all with driving distance from my home.

I had felt safe, I think.  I felt happy… but safe.

But running Disney, I felt radiant.  Magical.  All around me were women of every ability, from Olympians and elite to fellow grandmother and new beautiful friend Mary Butler and me running along at our own pace, chatting up a swirl of fairy dust…

Radiant Mary Butler (GrandMary) and me

That’s when I became a running Princess… fabulous, fun, free, festive… with a place at the Royal Ball of life itself.  I felt like Cinderella, my childhood princess.  It may have taken me 59 years to arrive, but arrive I have!

I put on my sparkling Princess tiara that morning and wore it everywhere for 3 days, as did thousands of other RunDisney Princess runners.

Of course, we still had the excitement of the ESPN Expo, the Disney parks themselves, the Tangled 5K on Saturday and the Princess Half Marathon on Sunday…

(There is so much more to tell you, and tell you I will.  I have a royal carriage load of posts going on right [write] now!)

Please come along with me on the magical ride…

Princess Grandma.

Yes, the title fits!

Disclosure: Thanks to runDisney for letting us attend this event as media and covering our race fees and hotel expenses. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

But they weren’t as interested in my training, as in what I’ll be wearing.

Now, I don’t have adorable mice friends or a Fairy Godmother to help with my clothing/gear choices for this amazing run, but I do have suggestions from little ones who know that princesses wear beautiful slippers -

Like these…

(These are the shoes I wore to my daughter Audrey’s wedding to her Prince, Matthew, almost 11 years ago!)

Hmmmmm.

I think I may need a Fairy Godmother after all!

Let’s take a walk today with 20th century American poet Carl Sandburg… through the mysterious veil we call FOG.

What is FOG? And just how did FOG end up in a poem?

Carl Sandburg makes FOG come alive for us in the image of a cat. Come along and see how:

FOG by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Read the poem with your kids.

Read it almost as quietly as the sounds of little cat feet… which is very, very quiet.

You can almost feel the silence, the stillness, the hush as the dense vapor wanders in, hovers and then moves on.

Giving lifelike characteristics to a thing like FOG (or any inanimate object) is called personification. Older kids may be familiar with the term, and younger kids may find it fascinating to learn. The poem FOG is a wonderful way to introduce this poetic term.

Talk to your children about FOG. What is it? How does it form? What does it look like? How is FOG different from a cloud or mist or rain?

Talk to your children about CATS. How do they walk? How do they sit? What is the meaning of the word haunches? What sounds do CATS make as they walk or sit or observe?

Talk about how FOG and CATS are similar in the way they move, hover, observe and move on.

Read the poem again. Read the first 2 lines very quietly. Read the next 4 lines quietly… but with the feeling or sense that the CAT, like FOG, is temporary, coming and going as it pleases.

FOG is a wonderful poem to use as an introduction to personification… or to simply enjoy the masterful way Sandburg allows us to see, feel, hear and be enveloped by the FOG as it hovers over the harbor and the city.

Kids will see it, feel it, hear it and be enveloped by it, too. Your kids will remember this poem the next time a real FOG rolls into your city or town, mountain, valley or harbor. They will remember the little cat feet bringing it in and moving it out.

This connection between life and literature is what READING is all about. WORDS: Written, Spoken, Felt.

Let’s talk about reading a poem today.

Shall we stay inside to read that poem? Or head outside?

Can we make the decision to stay all cozy inside AND head outside… at the same time?

Of course not!

But perhaps this little poem about a snail by 20th century novelist and poet Richard Wright gives us the option to do both…

Make up your mind snail!
You are half inside your house
And halfway out!

In this poem, Richard Wright experiments with the form of the traditional Japanese haiku – with its 3 lines and a specific number of syllables per line.

Wright’s poem celebrates a little wonder of life… the snail.

Read the poem with your kids or grandkids. Read it a couple of times.

Talk about the wonder of that little snail who carries its house from place to place.  Talk about how it pulls itself back into its shell when disturbed, danger threatens or to escape the weather. The snail house also protects the snail from sharp objects or vegetation as it pulls itself from here to there. That little snail house seems like a pretty good deal!

The voice, or speaker, of the poem comes along and notices the half-in, half-out snail.

This is a tiny moment of life, a sliver of time… but that moment can make us hesitate, smile, think and talk to the snail.

Hey! Make up your mind snail!

Ask your kids why that snail may be half-in and half-out. Is it feeling a bit threatened? Is it getting ready to make a move? Is it just enjoying the day? Is it finding a nice place in which to read a poem?

It’s moments like these that poets capture… wonderful moments that so many of us rush by.

It’s poems like these that teach children to notice life. It’s noticing life that counts when it comes to becoming proficient READERS.

During the rest of today, focus on finding little moments and little details, just like the snail half-in and half-out of its house. It’s great fun!

Remember that READING is all about the WORDS… Written, Spoken, Felt.

Oh. Back to the original question. Is it possible for you to be half-in and half-out of your house… at the same time?

You decide!

This is something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time… combine my love of grandchildren, children, education, reading, literacy, family, fitness and health as a resource for fellow Grandparents and Boomers.  We are, after all, a great force of nature!

I first posted a profile pic of me with my husband Barry and all 9 grandchildren, but it got “lost” in the Twitter space…

… and many friends and followers didn’t recognize me @SharonCouto (which I still have) as @GrandparentU.

So yesterday I asked my 6-year old grandson, Alex, to take a photo of me for @GrandparentU.  Kind of get him into this Social Media world!

I handed Alex my cell phone and he went about his work, setting up the shot, albeit laughing up a storm while he listened to my directions.  Little did I know that he was having fun VIDEOING me…

I don’t think I’ve had such at a fun photo shoot ever, and how appropriate is this for a GRANDPARENT site!?

And I don’t think I have a photo of me ever with a smile as big as the one captured through Alex’s beautiful, beautiful eyes…

Now that’s a Grandparent smile!

Join and follow me over at @GrandparentU for some lively understanding, shared wisdom and fun!

Thanks, Alex, for giving me the knowledge, great secret and love of spontaneous LIFE…