When the Generations Clash at Christmas

MY GRANDDAUGHTER AND ME AND THE C/SEA
by Susan Garrett

When the generations clash at Christmas ... at the holiday ... at other times.

Here is a poem written by Susan Garrett:

Time moves differently once you're past 50
Or once you've lost a child
Or once you're me
[Does it matter which?]

But here I go, with my granddaughter in hand
Off to let her teach me about the c/sea.

Extremely powerful and irreplaceable are we
Only Mother, Only Daughter ...
But the generation in between
Makes plans for us and shapes our days;
And while they're all the world to us
We sometimes like to get away
And muddle through a day --
They would say --
In a hapless disorganized way
Not too concerned about where we go
Just wandering and wondering
And unaware of time.

Sometimes she wears a halo of aluminum foil
And a tu-tu over her blue jeans
And I always try to look my best
But there isn't a "best" any more.
She'll be attended to whatever she wears
And whatever I wear, I'll largely be ignored,
So off we go!

Our worth lies in the not-now
We live at "c",
My grand-daughter and me.
She has all the future ahead of her
And represents their hope,
And I have all the past behind me
And represent what endures
And somehow in the now,
We meet.

We hope they will let us be.

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When children write about their grandparents they say things like "they are never in a hurry," "they play with me," "we go for walks," "we have conversations." They are talking about True Love.