Trust & An Old, Dry Brown Leaf

I originally wrote this post seven years ago, but thought you would enjoy seeing it today. 

What is trust? Well, dictionary.com defines it as a; "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something" I want my grandchildren to know they are dearly loved by me and they are absolutely able to trust me. So, what does love and trust look like to these three sweet rascally boys? Well, at times it looks like twinkly blue eyes, a big smile and an old, dry brown leaf. Let me explain.

I live in my family homestead - a farmhouse on an acre in Michigan which my grandparents built in the 1920's. My yard is filled with enormous maple trees and a very large old sycamore tree. Since I live in Michigan, these trees provide wonderful shade all Summer and no shortage of leaves in the Fall.

One day, seven years ago my grandsons were at my home on New Year’s Day, and since it was a nice day, they went outside to play for a while. At one point my middle grandson (five years old at the time) came inside with a big smile on his sweet face and an old, dry brown leaf in his hand – it was for me! He was so happy to have found a leaf for me . . . it had been “warm” out – well, relatively speaking it was “warm” for Michigan in January (40 degrees) and our snow had melted revealing a "treasure cache" of old, dry leaves. He happily gave me the “treasure” he found and went back outside to play.

This left my husband and me talking and laughing about how our grandson loves to give me old, dry brown leaves. My husband told me he asked our grandson why he was giving me the leaf, and our grandson said, "Because my grandma loves them!" He is absolutely convinced I love these old leaves . . . I do not, but I absolutely love him with all my heart, so when he gave me a “treasure” he found outside, I happily looked into his sparkly blue eyes and told him a very sincere, “Thank you”. He saw my smile, heard my words and knew he was really seeing and hearing love . . . leaving him completely convinced his grandma loves him . . . and those old leaves!

This was one of the ways my sweet grandson showed his love and trust for me when he was five. He trusted, he knew I would happily receive his gift. Over the years there have been many more, but I will always remember those old, dry leaves he often gave me when he was little - because as his grandma, I "loved them" and I absolutely always love him!