Saturday, January 30, 2010

Happiness 101




I won the Happy Award again! Ann Spollen saw fit to choose me this time. She's an incredible writer, pop over to her blog and pre-order her upcoming novel "Light Beneath Ferns". Her wonderful novel, "The Shape of Water" is available now.

I'm not going to list 10 things that make me happy again, but I will write about my visit yesterday with my grandson Ethan, as promised in a previous post.

Ethan is brain-injured. For the lengthly explanation click on my post of a couple of days ago, titled, Heartache 101.

I am HAPPY to report Ethan's congestion is improving. He is babbling, and when his "other grandma" makes certain sounds he tries to mimic them. He listens intently to Sesame Street, especially Elmo, and when Elmo sings with Nora Jones he gets very quiet and grins. (I'm going to buy him a Nora Jones CD). He knew I was coming and got very excited. If you mention "school" he starts laughing and expects to go "be with the kids". His teacher, Miss Monica, is an angel on earth and Ethan is madly in love with her. She was trained to work with blind kids and the family's happy that he's with her, at least until he has to move on to kindergarten.

I'll share something with you: some find this weird, but they don't get it. Before all this happened to Ethan, when he was learning to talk, he spent quite a bit of time with my niece's children, and they call me Aunt Lizzy. This was right around the time when we were trying to get him to say Grandma, so he started calling me Iz, or Izzy, and then Izzy became Grizzy. So, I will always be Grizzy to Ethan, and consequently, to all my grandchildren. I love the name Grizzy and feel privileged to be the only one that I know of! Thanks to Ethan.

Above is the award, (thanks Anne), a picture of the little guy with his "other grandma", and below is a video of Ethan's Mama giving him a bath! Have a terrific weekend everybody!!!

All Rights Reserved. © 2009 by Elizabeth Bradley.

24 comments:

Unspoken said...

Precious little man! And I get it. A child used to call me Mamy and I adored him for it!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful lil' guy. Sounds like a great time and I'm so glad he's feeling better with the congestion. Thanks for sharing the pic and video!

Donna M. Kohlstrom said...

How precious he is! And it sounds like he is a blessing to everyone!

My youngest brother, 17 years younger, was like a son to me when we were growing up. For some reason he had trouble saying my name and I ended up being called Nonnie! And I love that I have a special name! (By the way, he's now a psychologist in CA!)

The Victorian Parlor said...

He's beautiful! I am so glad that you were able to visit with him. I love your name 'Grizzy'-it's wonderful:).

Blessings,

Kim

Rosaria Williams said...

How you deserve this! Ethan will redifine all the things that make life precious, including how we name each other.

Helen Ginger said...

I love that he calls you Grizzy. That's a wonderful name!

Helen
Straight From Hel

Jemi Fraser said...

I love the nicknames kids create all on their own. Definitely a name to be carried proudly :) Ethan is a gorgeous little guy - he looks full of joy!

Fireblossom said...

My nickname is Cookie. Not as interesting as yours.

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

What a great Grandma name! And what an awesome little boy!

Nancy said...

What a sweet and precious little boy. And I love the name Grizzy! I'm Gammie. I'm not sure how long that will last, but I love it.

Woman in a Window said...

Beautiful spirits, all around, Elizabeth.

xo
erin

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Grizzy is a great name! Love it.

I'm so glad he's feeling better, Elizabeth. That's great news!

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Jeanie said...

That precious little boy will bring so many wonderful things into your life to go along with the great name he has given you. The "Miss Monicas" of the world surely are angels.

Glynis Peters said...

Oh how lovely, a special name from a special little boy. My children called one set, nanna and grandad Boats because they lived by the sea. The others were N&G Glasses because my mother wore specs.
Thanks for sharing.

Marguerite said...

Congrats on your award! So glad that you had a good visit with Ethan and thanks for sharing the photos and video. Grizzy is a cute grandma name!

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic young man who is very lucky to have Grizzy ;0)

Carol Murdock said...

Hi Elizabeth, I'm trying to play catch up with everyone and I have misses so much! I think Ethan is a gift from God who love will make MANY happy! I think it's so special that he gave you this sweet name! I Love It! :)

Jan Morrison said...

You get it, you got it. You have happiness. You understand how precious this all is. Thank you so much for telling this story.

gayle said...

Oh how fun to have a name all your own!! Glad he is feeling better.

Angie Muresan said...

Congratulations on the award! And what a beautiful boy Ethan is. Grizzy is an adorable nickname. It shows that it was given in love.

colbymarshall said...

Aw! So sweet! I love it :-)

Hilary said...

What a delicious smile. And an hounour, I'm sure, to be called Gizzy. :)

Anne Spollen said...

Little late in getting her, but it was worth it just to learn about th name Grizzy :)

Crystal Posey said...

Sweet!!