Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Marble Story


marble madness
Originally uploaded by iMatthew
When I was a little girl, my Grandpa and I would go for walks, usually we'd go visit his father or go back to his old neighborhood. It was always a treat for me to have him all to myself and the special trips usually included seeing the big Indian statue, eating White Castle hamburgers (no onions on Grandpa's), and I would ALWAYS find marbles! No matter where we went, I would surely find them glistening in the gravel driveways or in a patch of grass. Man, I had a special gift - I could find marbles!

What I didn't know was that before we left on our trips, Grandpa would grab a handful of marbles from the terrarium and put them in his pocket. As we'd walk, and when my attention was trained on something else that delighted my 6 or 7 year-old self, Grandpa would toss a few marbles out in front of us. I never noticed that the marbles I found were the same as the ones I deposited into the terrarium when we returned from our walks.

When I was much older, though before I had my own kids, my Grandpa let me in on the secret. Instead of feeling tricked, I thought he was THE MOST Clever man. Before my daughter was born, he gave me "my marbles" so I could have a "marble girl" too.

Time has passed and with so many moves, I'm not sure which of the marbles we have are mine and which are my kids', but they are still there. My kids were more interested in finding leaves and rocks and little odd bits of nature; they never really felt the magic of the marbles that I did. Maybe when I have grandkids I'll bring back the marbles.

So much about my Grandpa and Grandma brought me joy, this is just one of the many ways. Being Grandpa's "Marble Girl" still makes me feel special to this day.

4 comments:

  1. Absolutely love that story, Cindi. Thanks so much for sharing it with us! I have teary eyes now! Sweet Grandpa ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow....out of the blue on this one!! Whether it's inspired by one of the classes you're taking, or just popped into your head, I just want to say thank you. Such a beautiful story!! Thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Peggy, I'm not sure what struck me that I felt like I had to tell this story now. Just been "focusing" on telling my stories, I suppose.

    Thanks for the kind words, ladies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. that was awesome, what a wonderful story and I think that saving that special "game" for grandchildren is a wonderful idea. You are giving your kids so many other special things to remember, that the marbles need to be saved for their children. Oh and don't worry, cuz you'll be old, I'll remind you, cuz I will be young! : )

    ReplyDelete