{Wisdom}

Ninety years…that’s how many years Maw, Scott’s maternal grandmother, has lived on this earth. And with those nine decades, comes a treasure trove of life lessons, reflection, and golden nuggets of wisdom.

Maw is the youngest of 10 children by her mother and father. Her mom passed away when she was a young adult, and many years later her father decided to remarry. He was long retired by this point, and no doubt expected for life to wind down. 

But God had other plans. 

They had a very unexpected arrival of Baby Melinda, who also very unexpectedly happened to have Down syndrome. Because of Maw’s father’s age and circumstances (retiree and disabled), he was able to be more hands-on with parenting Melinda. Maw said he absolutely adored and treasured Melinda, she was the light of his life. Melinda lived to be in her 60s and passed away in November (?) 2016. Today, Maw is the sole survivor of all her siblings.

When I shared the news of Aria’s diagnosis, Maw explained more about Melinda’s competency, her excellent memory, her warm smile, the joy she brought to their family. Then there was something she made sure to tell me, and I will hold this in my heart forever:

“I'm so happy your family will understand what it's like to love this deeply.”