"Grandma's Love"

GRANDMA’S LOVE

As a child and I was noisy, Grandmother would say.

Close your eyes and Listen, Listen, what is it that you hear?
And I closed my eyes and listened. “I hear a bird”
And?
“I hear a car”
And?
”I hear a plane”
And?
“Nothing else.”
Do you hear the dog walking in the grass behind us?
“No.”
Listen, it is there. Do you feel the beating of your heart?
“No.”
Listen, you will. Do you hear the sounds of your breathing?
“No.”
Listen, you will. Do you hear the silence in between?
“No.”
Listen you will.


As I grew older and fell in love.
Listen grandmother would say. Close your eyes and Listen, what is it that you hear?
And I closed my eyes and listened.
What do you hear?
“I hear a Dove’s song.”
And?
“I hear an automobile coming up the dirt road.”
And?
“I hear a plane carrying people somewhere romantic.”
And?
“I hear the dog in the grass behind us.”
Do you feel the beating of your heart?
“Sometimes.”
Listen, it will get louder. Do you hear the sounds of your breathing?
“Only when he is near.”
Listen. Do you hear the silence in between?
“No.”
Listen you will.

And when my heart broke.
Grandma would say, Close your eyes and Listen, Listen, what is it that you hear?
“Nothing”
Listen, you will.
“I don’t like this game anymore, I’m too old.”
Listen, do you hear the pain in your soul or the sound of falling teardrops or the breaking of your heart?
Silence.
Listen, you will. Soon this pain will pass and you will listen again.

Years into my life, I close my eyes and Listen.
I hold my grandchildren near me as my grandmother once held me and I say. Close your eyes and Listen, what is it that you hear?
And when I am alone I close my eyes and listen and what is it that I hear.
I hear her whisper Close your eyes and Listen, What is it that you hear?
I hear her in the wind,
I smell her perfume
I remember the moonlit nights on her porch and stories of far away places.
And I smile and the tears that cling to my cheeks fall in the silence she asked if I could hear.

Listen, what is it that I hear?
I hear grandma’s love.