Sam appeared at my bedside this morning asking to go visit "NaiNai".  It was 6:00 a.m.  I groaned, rolled over, and allowed her to crawl in bed with me for a while hoping we could both get some more sleep, but she whispered non-stop about "NaiNai" and I finally surrendered to the fact that she wasn't going to close her mouth, let alone her eyes.  We chatted a bit, made breakfast together, then went to fetch Josh.

The first word out of his mouth was "NaiNai".

Of the Three Amigas, they miss JunE the most.  The connection she forged with those two is amazing - Especially with Sam - And though they stopped asking to visit her every other day a number of months ago, I could tell that they were both feeling the gap a bit more keenly this week.  I knew that they'd ask to "Go see NaiNai" soon.

Thanks to Sam, the day had been jump-started and, considering that JunE had worked the evening shift last week, I saw no good reason to tell them "No", though I did tell them that if they misbehaved, we would return home as fast as we went out to the hotel.  To my surprise, they were, for the most part, angels... We had a few moments of grumbling, but no tantrums, no rudeness on Sam's behalf, or biting on Josh's (why they always seem to save this behavior up for strangers or people they haven't seen in a while, I don't know).  It was a good day.

I wish I could describe the look of joy in the eyes of my children when they first caught sight of JunE, but I'm not that eloquent of an author and this is merely a journal entry, not a thought out story...  Suffice it to say that they had both drifted off to sleep during the latter half of our journey out and NaiNai was the first thing either of them saw when they woke up.   In that brief second of recognition, they both looked as though they had been dreaming wonderful dreams to wake and find they'd come true. 

Moments like that can make a Mother's heart soar...  It felt as though, in spite of all my personal pitfalls and short-comings, I've done something right as a parent. 

Seeing my children so happy makes me happy.  Seeing them light up another's life is icing on the cake. 

This may be the last time those three see each other for a very long time.  JunE will be a Grandma in a month and a half or so.  The end of the year will also see the end of her employment at the hotel.  She'll be missed more than she knows... 

She's going to be an awesome Grandma though.

*NaiNai literally means "My Father's Mother" in Chinese, but it's often used by children as a respectful address for middle-aged to elderly women.  In the case of my kids, it's a term of affection.