Her Name Is Lisa

She was only two years old when I first met her. A precocious little blond girl who marched into my kitchen and the first thing she did was try and open my refrigerator. I quickly put my hand on the door to prevent it from opening. She looked up at me with a quizzical look on her face, so I explained right away that such a thing was not acceptable in my house. "If you want something you may ask, and if I have it I will decide if I want to give it to you or not." I told her that when I was her age, my mother would not allow any of her children to ask for anything in someone else's house. She was sure if they wanted to offer us something, they would. Then if they did, we had to get our mother's permission as to whether we could have it or not. Otherwise we were to be polite, sit down in a chair, and be quiet. From then on we were the best of buddies and she never tried to open the refrigerator again. This little girl named Lisa, was the daughter of a young girl my son married. She was now my step-granddaughter. I had no blood grandchildren at the time so she was a special gift to me. As she grew, so did our relationship. When she was old enough to use the phone she would call "Gram" several times a week. She was on the phone quite often when doing her homework to ask me how to spell a word or to ask if I knew the answer to one of her homework problems. We would work on it together so she could figure it out for herself. She came often to our house and we romped in our backyard dough boy pool. We played a game on our raft floaters called "Horsie" We bounced up and down holding on to each other until one or both of us fell off. I love that memory! When she became a teenager, she called for advice. I do not think she ever took it , but she often asked for it. After her mother and my son divorced, she still remained in my life as did her mother. They were so dear to me and still are. When she married for the first time, I was no longer legally related to her, but to her I would always be her "Gram." She insisted I be in her wedding picture, saying, "You have to be in it, you are family, and you are my grandma." I am not too sure her blood grandmother was happy about it, but she did not say anything. Over the years Lisa has not adhered to what is right and what is wrong. She is still outgoing, rebellious, stubborn, and lives by her own rules. When you talk with her she makes you think that she knows a lot more than you do and no matter what you say, she has a correction or a different opinion. She is still that little girl marching into my house determined to open the frig. However, she and I are still the greatest of friends. She still calls me often and she emails me now and then. I can be critical of her and give unwanted advice and she never gets mad at me. We talk about it and discuss it, but she handles it very good. If I was to say anything like I say to her, to my blood grandchildren, they would cry and fly out of the room and put me on their silent list. During their growing up time they rarely came for visits and never ever called on the phone just to talk to me. One time I asked my grandson when he entered the room and ignored me," Well J...aren't you going to say hello?" He said, "What? I was talking to my dad." Then he asked if I wanted a hug and I said, "Yes and I love you J..." He then would not come into a room where I had gone as he said he was uncomfortable around me. That is the way they always are. I have to walk on eggs when I am around them. Lisa's children call me grandma also, and often when I see them, the boy (the oldest) always says,"I love you grandma!" How good that feels. Lisa was in town last week and I took her for a burger and a visit. We had a good time and did our back and forth thing. She is still such a "brat", but I love her unconditionally. She is my granddaughter!