I had the pleasure of having lunch with my granddaughter Aubrey today. Much to the chagrin of my grandsons, who will be in school about a week longer, today was her school’s last Friday of this school year. We celebrated the end of school and the beginning of summer with lunch from Sonic.
Aubrey requested corn dogs and a grape slushie, a meal she wouldn’t normally have at school. The first words out of her mouth as we slid into our seats was the revelation that today, the school lunch was….a corn dog! She found that irony funny. At least the school wasn’t serving slushies too!
Lunch times are very short for elementary school aged children. The kids have 20 minutes to get their lunches, eat and line up for recess. I understand the reasoning for the shortened time for eating. It just goes by so fast. I encouraged Aubrey to eat while we chatted about a variety of topics.
No time to pose for a pic…I caught Aubrey as she was taking a bite!
All of my grandchildren are great conversationalists. They share easily about their lives and ask questions about mine. Aubrey and I spoke about the end of school, summer vacation, friends, family, and how I know everyone! Aubrey thinks that because I know several of the teachers at her school. I love watching this bright girl’s eyes sparkle as she talks, and her expressive face. She makes me laugh and stirs my heart with her tender concern for others.
That 20 minutes flew by. One of the teachers in the lunchroom gave Aubrey 5 extra minutes since I was there. As the other first graders were lining up to go outside, Aubrey slurped down the rest of her purple slushie and gathered up her trash to throw in the big bin. I had already hugged her and kissed her good bye and managed to capture a quick selfie of the two of us.
Still seated at the table, I waved to her as she dusted off her hands over the trash bin and turned to trot across the cafeteria to join her classmates. Suddenly Aubrey swung around and ran back to me, a big grin on her face, her arms spread wide. I received the wonderful gift of another hug, a kiss and an “I love you” before she scampered off.
I’ll be having lunch with my three younger grandsons next week, as their school years are concluding too. Dayan, at almost 17, is happy with Chinese food after school. These are precious times. I’m storing up treasures in my heart. I might have left Aubrey at recess with a smile on my face and a joyful tear in my eye.
Going Beyond 