As I was going through video clips for the photo/video montage that I made for my Grandma’s funeral, I ran across a few video clips of my Great Grandparents (my Grandma’s parents) and these clips gave me a greater desire to get to know Dan and Margaret (my great-grandparents) better. There is one little video clip in particular that really stood out to me and touched my heart.
This is what I wrote in my journal…
March 19, 2018
“Last night I was inspired by my great grandma – Margaret Swenson. We had just sent the kids to bed and I was looking through those old video clips that Tammy sent and I happened to run across a clip of Margaret helping Paul (the youngest of her kids), who looked like he was about 5 years old or so, get ready for bed.
She helped him button his pajamas, and then he came over to her, laid his head in her lap, and said his personal prayer (all of this was silent). Margaret stroked his hair while he prayed. Then he got up from his knees and she gave him a hug.
It was so touching to get to “witness” (80 years later) this tender little moment between a mom and her son. Margaret inspired me to be more present with my kids, especially right before bed. I immediately went into the boys rooms and decided to kneel by them and stroke their hair while they said their personal prayers. I hope to make this into a habit.”
It’s been a couple weeks since this experience and I have continued to do this every night. On the nights when I’m tempted to just tell the kids to go put themselves to bed (because I’m ready to be done parenting for the day), I remember Margaret’s example and how I felt as I watched her mother her son.
