Mari & Ilna-you're the best.

McRollers-thanks for reading.


It's That Time Again (1/3)

"It's very hard to decide," Angie said as she studied the large display of folders carefully. "They're all very, very pretty."

"It's an important decision." Elizabeth smiled at her granddaughter's look of intense concentration. "Take your time."

"I think I'm done," DJ said as he chose a folder adorned with pictures of various art supplies. "Do you think these ones are good, Grandpa?"

Joseph took the stack and flipped through them. "Baseball, a giraffe, a robot. Dylan would love that one." He smiled. "Legos and art supplies. I think these ones are perfect."

"I found another goat!" Angie said triumphantly.

"I got all different ones. That's ok, right?" DJ asked, a bit of uncertainty about his choices creeping into his voice.

Joseph knelt in front of him. "It's better than ok. It shows you're growing up and developing a wide variety of interests." He put his hand on DJ's shoulder. "And that's a very good thing."

"I can't decide between a camo one and a pink, sparkly one for my last folder." Angie held them side by side to compare. "They should make sparkly, camo folders." She thought a few seconds longer. "With goats."

Elizabeth barked a laugh. "Maybe when you get older you can get a job designing folders."

"I'm gonna be on the team," Angie reminded her. "But maybe I can make folders too."

"My granddaughter is going to be a veterinarian on her days off from being a pilot," the woman beside Elizabeth said with a chuckle as she pointed to the young girl kneeling a few feet away with a dozen folders spread out around her trying very hard to narrow down her choices.

Elizabeth nodded. "It's a world of endless possibilities at this age, isn't it?"

"Sure is," the woman agreed. "And I'm so glad I get to share it. When my daughter and son-in-law told me they were moving here for a new job opportunity I was heartbroken. The kids were 2, 5 and 7. I was used to seeing them everyday. The thought of that not happening anymore was too much. So I took an early retirement and moved here too."

Elizabeth smiled. "That's a very familiar story. My husband, my mother and I moved here after my daughter had her first baby." She pointed to Angie who was showing two folders to DJ and asking for his opinion on which one she should choose. "Then DJ joined the family."

"Being a grandparent is great, isn't it?" The woman asked.

Elizabeth beamed. "The absolute best."

"Her mother is happy to take her shopping for new school clothes but refuses to set foot in the folder aisle." The woman laughed. "Says it drives her crazy how long it takes." The woman's laugh turned to a soft smile. "I remember feeling that way when she was younger. But now I could stand and watch my granddaughter look at folders all day."

"It's one of the joys of grandparenting," Elizabeth agreed. "More time to savor the little things."

The kneeling young girl gathered up an armload of folders and approached. "Grandma, I can't decide. Will you help me?"

The woman grinned. "I'd love to."


"Mommmmmy!"

The sound of Angie's scream split the air a second after the front door of the beach house flew open. Her experienced mom ears told Catherine that it was a scream of excitement as opposed to one of fear or panic.

"Mommy wait til you see what Grandma and me found!"

"What did you find?" Catherine asked as she came into the living room from the kitchen. "It must be very exciting."

"It is!" Angie was literally jumping up and down. "Wait 'til you see!"

Catherine smiled at Elizabeth. "What did you do?"

"Nothing extravagant," Elizabeth promised. "We stopped by the zoo on the way home to see Felix and tell him about tonight's orientation and how Angie and DJ are gonna meet their new teachers."

Catherine chuckled to herself at how commonplace it had become for them to talk about stopping by the zoo to share news with Felix. As if every family made it a point to keep their goat in the loop.

"We happened to stop by the gift shop on the way out …"

Catherine grinned. "What a shock!"

"And we saw the cutest …" Elizabeth reached into the bag she was carrying but before she could get the item fully out Angie couldn't stand it any longer and screamed.

"Felix is on a backpack!"

"He sure is." Elizabeth showed the item to Catherine. "They came out with a line of backpacks featuring lots of different animals from the zoo itself. And guess which goat they chose?"

Angie hugged the backpack to her chest. "They chose Felix 'cuz he's the handsomest one!"

DJ and Joseph made their way into the house loaded down with bags. "I think we got everything on the list."

"And then some," Catherine sighed.

"Grandma and Grandpa helped us pick out some extra stuff and we're gonna drop it off at school when we go there tonight," DJ said.

"That's great," Catherine smiled.

The previous year, Michael's mom had been instrumental in setting up a program to help make sure every child has access to the school supplies they need. Since its inception, DJ had been one of the program's biggest supporters. On more than one occasion he'd asked if he could buy extra supplies to donate with his own money.

"Speaking of school," Catherine said. "Daddy will be home soon and we need to get ready to go."

"'Cuz it's oria-tation tonight!" Angie sing-songed.

"You two run up and get changed," Catherine told DJ and Angie. "We're not gonna have time to eat before we go so we'll stop at Kamekona's afterwards."

"Can we get shave ice?" Angie asked hopefully.

"After dinner," Catherine said.

"YAY!" Both children cheered in unison as they headed up the stairs to get ready.

"I can't believe the two of you actually managed to keep this secret all summer," Elizabeth said.

"I'm as shocked as you are," Catherine said. "I thought for sure if we didn't slip up and blurt it out one of Ashae's parents would and then the cat would be out of the bag."

"When Angie sees who her teacher is going to be this year she is going to flip," Joseph chuckled. "Possibly literally."

"She's gonna be excited for sure." Catherine looked at the backpack she was holding. "I know you're gonna find this hard to believe, Felix, but you might be the second most exciting thing that happens to Angie today."

TBC on Wednesday


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