Tag Archives: grandparent

CAROL REEVES: Life Lessons

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

A trip to grandma’s once involved baking cookies, licking spoons and cherishing stories about the past.
Today, the trip involves eye-rolling patience while teaching her to use her smartphone.
Wise old granny is suddenly clueless.
Be not fooled. She is teaching her last, best lesson—aging with grace.
Watch carefully.

A prolific writer, Carol Reeves is loving the freedom and challenge of Flash Fiction. Her stories frequently reflect the vicissitudes and blessings of aging and can be found in Flash Fiction Magazine and 50 Word Stories. Carol’s memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published in 2022.

SUE ANN GLEASON: Betrayal

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I watch you climb the steps gingerly holding the handrail. The lines on your forehead map worry. How are the kids? I ask. Has your granddaughter checked in to see how you’re doing? You take the groceries, grateful for yogurt and honey, whisper: No, the granddaughter just asks for money.

Sue Ann Gleason is a writer, educator, and nourishment guide who loves freshly sharpened pencils and pages that turn. See more at wellnourishedwoman.com and sueanngleason.substack.com.

CAROL TYMANN: Play It Again

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

A bonus day with my granddaughter
Doing whatever occurs to her moment to moment
Her shameless giggling
Her quick-silver mind
Her soft-as-dough hugs
Her pillowy hand
Her huger-than-life heart
Her limitless imagination
Her endless potential

I’m the luckiest girl alive to tread this giddy path long ago and now… again.

Carol Tymann writes, reads, walks, and plays in upstate New York.

LORNA YE: Dear Grandma

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Thinking of you is like sipping my second cup of coffee of the day: not a yearning rush, just savoring the dreamy warmth and bittersweetness. My eyes will still moisten suddenly, fogged in the aroma of the past, when my fingers run across your old ring laced with green patina.

Lorna Ye writes flash fiction and poetry. She enjoys listening to soft jazz and trying new recipes.

KS DEARSLEY: Who’s a Pretty Boy?

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

David’s Gran smelled of urine and talcum powder, and her parrot always squawked when he visited her. He could not drink Gran’s tea or eat her cake.

“It’ll put hairs on your chest,” she said.

But David is still waiting for the parrot to sprout a fur coat and bark.

K. S. Dearsley’s stories, flash fiction, and poetry have appeared online and in print on both sides of the Atlantic, including in Fifty-Word Stories. Her fantasy novels are available on Amazon and Smashwords. Find out more at ksdearsley.com.

JULIA JORGENSEN: Peel

Submissions, Touching, , , , , ,

Grandpa picks her up from ballet, lets her sit in the front seat. He has brought three tangerines wrapped in a paper towel (two for her). They eat them in the car. Later, she will forget to remove the peels from the cupholder; even now, his car smells like tangerines.

Julia Jorgensen is a junior at Stanford University studying Symbolic Systems and Creative Writing. She loves short stories, theater, and tangerines; she has definitely eaten at least eight in one sitting before.

BOB THURBER: Grand Theft

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Eventually the man who’d been our son-in-law remarried.

Regrettably his new wife didn’t want us in her life.

She connived and ultimately influenced her husband to keep our grandchildren from us.

Despite this extreme cruelty and betrayal, grandma remains no less “grand.”

Defined by her enduring love, she waits patiently.

Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and two collections of stories. A celebrated master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in 60 anthologies, received dozens of awards, and been used in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts where, though legally blind, he continues to write every day. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

ANN SANGWIN: A Girl

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Do you want a girl this time? they all asked when the fourth grandchild was on the way.

It really doesn’t matter, and we know what to do with boys.

When she was born after a long labour, it was just relief.

But when we met, I was bowled over.

Ann Sangwin is a retired teacher, now a career grandmother. She has written all her life but until recently has not thought of submitting for publication. She lives in Kent, where she recently joined a writing group which has changed her life.