My special little lady

About four years ago, I met a lady that stole my heart. She’s beautiful, charming, and a joy to be around. Anytime I can make time to see her, I do — and she always greets me with open arms.

The funny thing is, my lovely wife knows all about this lady, and yet she’s just fine with it. How can that be? Well of course I’m talking about my granddaughter, Clara, the latest love of both my wife’s and my lives.

Clara was born during the COVID days. This meant that, unlike with her big brother, Jackson, we didn’t get to see her right after she was born. We had to wait until the next day. The wait was worth it, as she melted our hearts from the very first moment and hasn’t let up since. She’s just wonderful.

No two siblings are ever the same. Same parents, same household, same rules, yet siblings can be as different as chocolate and vanilla. It’s exactly that way with Jackson and Clara.

The “J Man,” as I like to call Jackson, is a rolling ball of energy that starts from the moment he wakes up each day until his head hits the pillow at night. I have never seen a kid with more energy than he has.

Clara is totally different: She has energy as well, but she can sit alone coloring or playing with toys and be absorbed in her own world for long stretches at a time. Maybe it’s a gender thing, as we know that girls mature faster than boys.

No matter, I’m just so lucky to have the two of them. My grandkids — along with volunteer firefighting — give me a real reason to stay in shape, both physically and mentally.

This may be my favorite Clara story. We were in Florida at the Disney boardwalk. My daughter said to Jackson, who was about 4 at the time, that she would get him a cup of ice cream if he shared it with Clara. He of course said OK.

He gets the ice cream. Then he takes one bite and gives Clara a bite. Then he takes two bites and gives Clara one bite. Then he takes three bites and Clara, who’s not even 2, yells out “Jaaaacksonnnn!”

One of the funnest things I’ve ever seen. Not even age 2 and she was still able to see when she was getting “hosed,” as they say. Good for her.

I’ve been to Clara’s preschool classroom a few times. She loves showing me around. There’s a bunny, plenty of books and toys, and of course her little friends.

Sometimes she will have a new “bestie” and they’ll walk around holding hands all day. How cute is that?

I didn’t have that kind of preschool. In fact, I didn’t have any preschool. What I did have was unsupervised access to the streets of Brooklyn all day long. I’m amazed I’m here now.

One time my son-in-law got the whole family tickets to see “Kool and the Gang” at Tanglewood. Now I’m very familiar with Kool et. al. How could I not be? When I was in my teens and early twenties, utter morons would blast KatG at full volume on suitcase-sized boom boxes in sardine-can packed subway cars like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Can you imagine basically being in a large tin can and getting assaulted like that every morning? I used to ride in between the subway cars, which was its own harrowing adventure, let me tell you, just to get some relative peace and quiet. I actually liked working and going to school in Manhattan, but some people just don’t get it and make it hard to do.

So now we’re all at Tanglewood and the concert starts. Huge horn section, booming bass, etc. Clara, who was 3 at the time, absorbs it all for about five minutes, then she just puts her head down and checks out.

Can you imagine what all that pandemonium must be like for small kids? So I put her right up on my shoulders and we took a walk around the beautiful tract of land that is Tanglewood.

Way in the back, where the sound was much lower, they even had games and toys for small kids. That was great. Maybe someday Clara will learn to love large, loud concerts, but I was glad to be there for her when it was just giving her a headache.

Speaking of music, I’m pretty sure that is Clara’s second language. Even from when she was very, very small, at the sound of any kind of music, she would move and groove to it. You could tell she was feeling it, totally.

Both her parents are great musicians. So is her grandma. I guess it’s just nature passing down the right genes. Now she’s learning to play piano and doing quite well. Having music be so much a part of her life really makes me happy. Someday I’ll have her teach me a little piano for sure.

One time we were reading a book. I pointed to the letter C and said “C is for Clara.” She said “Yeah!” Then I said “and C is for Charlotte” (her grandma). Again she said, “Yeah!” Then I point to an F and say “and F is for Frank” (my name). At that, she gets a look on her face like she’s passing a kidney stone and goes “Ohhh.” So funny!

The last time I visited Clara, I walked in on her as she was sitting on the floor in her room. She was of course wearing one of her many princess dresses, as she’s in princess mode virtually all of the time these days.

I sat down on the floor next to her to see what she was up to. She looks up at me with those big doe eyes and said, “Do you want to play makeup with me?”

Hoo boy! I told her I’d get grandma to play makeup, but since then I’ve been thinking. I’m not much to look at. Maybe, next time I see her, I should let her fix me up. How much worse could I look? Just don’t tell the boys at the firehouse; I’ll never live it down.

These days, through the magic of video phone calls, grandparents have as much access to their grandkids as they want, no matter how much physical distance separates them. What a miracle.

On any given night, I can see and talk to Clara and Jackson as they’re eating dinner or playing a game or just chilling. I’m sure that helps keep the bond with them growing.

Of course, nothing beats answering a standard phone on your birthday and being serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by little munchkin voices. Folks, it doesn't get any better than that.

If you have grandkids, I don’t have to tell you how great it is. Be sure to spoil them rotten and tell them how much you love them. It’s just the best.