Grandchildren

My daughter, Mary, is visiting here are Mom and Ray's today, along with her two children, my grandchildren, Rose and Quinn. She has taken the effort to get them onto the ferry in the morning, dropped off by her husband, Albert. I met them on this side, where they piled into my truck and headed for the Granville Island Market in downtown Vancouver.

After an hour of looking in the main market, we wandered across to the Kid's Market, a world of "I want" from Rose and a place for Quinn to rearrange every possible item on every possible shelf within his reach. Quinn is walking, just enough to be dangerous. He's 16 months old, with a vocabulary of a few words and targeted noises. Rose, at three and a half, is an energetic girl who would rather push my wheelchair than ride on it. Today it was half and half, some riding, some pushing, all fun.

We exhausted the ;possibilities of the Kid's Market, then wandered back to the main market, stopping in to buy some gelato for Rose. Cup in hand, we made our way to the waterfront benches where we discussed the nasty and noisy of seagulls. Those birds are pushy, completely unafraid of anything we might try to do. Rose had fun watching me chase them off with my wheelchair. After gelato was done, or at least as much of it as was going to get done, we hopped back into my truck and headed for Mom and Ray's place.

It was on this drive where I learned that "tickle" is one of Quinn's words. Sitting next to me in his car seat, he reached out as I was driving and began scratching at my side, saying "tikka, tikka, tikka", all the while smiling at his own impishness. He smiles a lot, as if consumed by the continuing humour of his own making. He is a happy boy, gaining smile upon smile from the simple act of tickling Grandpa. I smiled along with him, trying to stay focused on driving while this supine distractor scritched and scratched at me from the safety of his car seat.

Now we are at Mom and Ray's. Mary is nursing Quinn. Rose is enjoying a treat purchased at the market. It's a quiet time. Soon I will take them to the ferry. The day will end. Good byes will be said. I will come back here, looking for the next time Rose helps me with my wheelchair and Quinn tickles me. These are the joys of grandchildren.