{"id":5610,"date":"2011-10-30T06:34:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-30T10:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/?p=5610"},"modified":"2011-10-30T06:36:14","modified_gmt":"2011-10-30T10:36:14","slug":"the-rider-chronicles-11-24-hours-with-rider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/?p=5610","title":{"rendered":"The Rider Chronicles 12 – 24 Hours with Rider"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have not written about my grandson for too many weeks because I have not seen him for many too many weeks.\u00a0 I’m not with him nearly as much as I wish.\u00a0 Not only that, I’ve been a Rider Bachelor several times these last months.\u00a0 No greater love hath a grandfather for his grandson but that he give up his wife from\u00a0 time to time to go grandmother him.\u00a0 Rider’s parents are busy entrepreneurs running their three-year old company<\/a>, a so-far successful venture I think is sometimes like a multi-headed hydra: just when you think things are under control, two new heads grow in place of the one you just chopped off.\u00a0 They are grateful when she can help.\u00a0 Not only that, I hardly need to explain how grandma loves spending time with her grandson while his parents are running the family business.\u00a0 She loves the opportunity to get\u00a0 to know and be known by him.\u00a0 Being an occasional bachelor for wife and Rider is a small but potent gift to give.\u00a0 I miss her, and am a little jealous of her time with the child, but I stay busy winning bread and writing.\u00a0 A couple week-ends ago, however, Rider’s grandmother and I arranged to drive the four hours to his home in Brooklyn for a visit.<\/p>\n

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Rider Lawn More<\/p><\/div>\n

I love seeing Rider.\u00a0 I especially enjoy first-seeing<\/em> him, for example, when that bright-eyed tyke gets handed to me by bleary-eyed parents early in the morning or after a long trip.\u00a0 When we finally arrived my eyes, like a laser searching for its target, sought for and found Rider, locking on this child now filled with wonder, and curiosity about his world.\u00a0 Because grandpa time is short, a mere 24 hours, I hold him first, always pure pleasure for me and amazement at this one who has so captured my love and affection.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately after we arrive, we set out for the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, a fifteen minute walk.\u00a0 Being with Rider, his grandmother, and his parents fills my cup, but throw beautiful gardens at the beginning of fall into the mix and I’m in Gardener Grandfather heaven.\u00a0 We take turns pushing and carrying Rider, marveling at the growing things that surround us, both plants and baby.\u00a0 I could spend hours here admiring the floral and arboreal wonders and taking notes of things I could plant in my own garden or the yard I don’t yet own.\u00a0 We stop for hamburgers and beer, sitting in the October sun, chatting and relaxing and loving little Rider.<\/p>\n

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With Rider in the Bonsai Garden<\/p><\/div>\n

My twenty-four hours in Brooklyn race by.\u00a0 I grab as much time with Rider as I can.\u00a0 I am amazed and delighted by how personable he has become.\u00a0 Gone is the sort of vacant infant look, replaced by the inquisitive eyes and ready smile of an almost five month old.\u00a0 At times, I can even get him to laugh, a musical chuckle that starts from his belly and rings sweetly throughout the room.\u00a0 All who hear it can’t help but laugh too.<\/p>\n

My departure time arrives, when I must leave Rider’s grandmother who will spend a few days here with my grandson and his parents.\u00a0 I’m sorry to go, but grateful for every minute I had here.<\/p>\n

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Rider and Grandpa<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have not written about my grandson for too many weeks because I have not seen him for many too many weeks.\u00a0 I’m not with him nearly as much as I wish.\u00a0 Not only that, I’ve been a Rider Bachelor … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[527],"tags":[649,530,637],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5610"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5610"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5701,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5610\/revisions\/5701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}