Sunbonnet Sue

"Grandchildren are a grandparent's link to the future, and grandparents are the child's link to the past." Author Unknown

When I was about five , my grandpa came to live with us for a while. He was a jolly man; laughed a lot and we played a lot of games like Hide-and-Seek and Ring Around the Rosie. I loved the feel of his big hand holding mine while we walked to town.  We looked in all of the store windows and, of course, he bought both of us an ice cream cone. I remember that he liked chocolate and, if my grandpa liked chocolate, then of course, I did.

One of the things I remember the most about that visit was how he taught me to make a bed. My mother had a Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I loved. It was used as a spread on the bed where my grandpa slept because it was one of the nicest quilts we had. My grandpa told me to get on one side of the bed at the foot and he would be on the other. Then he said,

"Now, honey, you see those little girls that are walking toward you? Try to get this one in the middle to come over your way."

So, I would pull the quilt toward me and Sunbonnet Sue would move my way. My grandpa would then make a game out of it by pulling Sunbonnet Sue toward him. Then we would move up to the next Sunbonnet Sue and I would pull her toward me as he pulled her his way. We worked our way up to the head of the bed and as I looked down toward the foot, there was not a wrinkle to be found!

"And, that, honey, is the way to make your bed. You just pull all of those wrinkles toward you and they will disappear."

I think of that occasionally when I make our bed today. That Sunbonnet Sue quilt is but a memory yet I can imagine it laying there as I pull out those wrinkles. I can even imagine my grandpa standing on the other side of the bed, the sun shining on his white hair and, his contagious laugh filling the air.

I loved spending time with my grandpa in our home while he was there. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with my grandparents but that wasn't possible. However, I look forward to spending an eternity with them in their Heavenly homes in the future.

"Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home." Genesis 31:55