Learning From A Grandfather
Learning from a grandfather...
I arrived early to set up for an orientation designed for participants who are interested in delivering child welfare services. A gentleman was seated just inside the entrance, and I thought he might be a participant who arrived early. He was not. He was waiting to testify in court across the street.
I laid out sign-in sheets and name tags then scuttled up the stairs to set up the AV presentation in the auditorium. Connections and remote controls were creating havoc, but we persisted and found a workaround--four minutes before the session was scheduled to begin.
Back downstairs to my abandoned post at the entrance, the gentleman was still waiting for his call to court. He was kindly helping direct participants--thankfully, I often meet people who volunteer to help. After everything was underway, we struck up a conversation. The gentleman, a retired police officer, had been on the force for 41 years--a bit of a legend according to some of the other officers who were passing by as we waited.
The retired officer shared with me that he was called back to testify about a case he worked before he retired. He also shared that he had to make special arrangements for his sister to meet his five-year-old granddaughter at the school bus in his absence. He meets her every afternoon. And cooks breakfast for her every morning. "She calls me Dad."
He has cared for her since she was two weeks old. The whole kit and kaboodle--changing diapers and making formula as a 'single parent.' Apparently, his marriage did not survive life in the police force. I sensed no regrets, no resentment--just a granddad happy to be there for his granddaughter.
The participants upstairs were learning how to open programs to care for children in foster care; I was downstairs learning from a grandfather what it takes to keep a child out of foster care. We call it "kinship care." He calls it "being her dad."
~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran
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