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Christmas gift for Barb

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I didn’t keep a copy of my Christmas gift to Barb but we had a book printed. Here is the rough cut.

What Aspen Knows


Grandma Vance was a busy matriarch of a large family. She was always busy taking care of someone and to each person in her family she played a unique role.

To some she was a confidant. To some she was a companion for sports games. To some she was a shopping partner. To many she was a baker and a maker of the most delicious foods.

Some of her grandchildren saw her as the one person they were most afraid to disappoint. Some saw her as the one who always corrected their grammar. Some saw her as the enforcer of the family’s rules.


But Aspen, the little one, saw her in a completely unique way.


For Aspen, Grandma Vance was magic. 


She was magic because she was stable. 

Aspen knew every day, Monday through Friday, she would get to see Grandma Vance. She knew what Grandma Vance would be eating for breakfast (and that she might even share with her!)

She knew Grandma would have all her favorite snacks and would stock up on her favorite yogurt every time it went on sale.

She knew she would get two snacks and a delicious lunch full of all her favorite things.

She knew she could watch Sesame Street and Pinkalicious at Grandma’s house.


She was magic because she always taught her something new.

She taught her how to recognize the letters of the alphabet.

She taught her all the best songs.

She taught her how to properly pronounce the words that other children struggled with.

She taught her how delicious zucchini bread could be.


She was magic because she let Aspen be curious.

No tool was off limits at Grandma’s house. 

She could scoot around on the cart in the garage.

She could go fishing with the magnets.

She could play in the bathtub, with or without water.

She could carry around pieces of a game all day long.

She could decorate the entire room with all of Grandma’s bracelets. 

Everything was a toy and that was perfectly OK with Grandma.


Grandma was magic because she believed Aspen was magic.

When Aspen spelled a word, Grandma cheered. 

When Aspen rode her bike, Grandma cheered.

When strangers told Aspen how beautiful she was, Grandma was the first to say “I know!” 

When those who know Grandma asked if she ever grew tired of Aspen, Grandma always said “Never!”


Yes, Grandma Vance was a lot of things to a lot of people but to one little girl, for a few precious years, she was everything.
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1_QIITocOUzfOuHRKM6XNU-dF7pt0Y51jhttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1UqeeAlAFdy0VKFE3hqa69C4VHDb3uN7jhttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=185Mn9xpVp0ZE1LG-Ww-HhOLGHSDMKL5ehttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1rCPxGQZ5QmG1-BJaTArl-c3K7WkKYcpQ

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