My elder son, Callum, has always been a busy chap. I remember the Clinic Sister remarking about his seemingly perpetual motion when Cal was an effervescent toddler. Ever a perfectionist, he refused to walk, talk or be toilet trained until he had attained the necessary skills required. Hence after nine months (!) of walking around furniture, he eventually let go at the ripe old age of seventeen months and never looked back. Sometime around two and a half (or thereabouts), he began talking in full sentences. At three and a half, he toilet trained himself in a single day.
He was a social butterfly at daycare and loved Kindy and Pre-Primary. Unfortunately, his gregarious and quirky nature did not endear him to some of his classmates and he was severely bullied, both mentally and physically, throughout much of his school years.
What saved Callum was his tenacity and determination, along with learning Karate and then winning a scholarship to begin his ballroom dancing amateur career. Humphries Dance Studio became his second family, offering him an outlet for his natural energy and nurturing him through his emotional difficulties.
At university to study primary teaching, he chose to take a deep breath, dust himself off from previous dramas and reinvent himself. His social personality emerged once more. Girlfriends were a cause of some angst and a lot of self-doubt. Then he met a gorgeous strawberry blonde firecracker of a young woman named Bronwyn.
Cal and Bron built a house together, acquired their furbaby (Ragnar the Ragdoll cat) and married in August 2018. After an absolutely horrendous pregnancy, they presented us with our beautiful granddaughter, Imogen Ivy, on 6 December 2019.
Much to my astonishment, I fell head over heels in love with Immy from the very beginning. Having not seen her and her parents since my birthday in July, we decided to squeeze an overnight stay into their busy schedule. Between the three of them, they have an amazingly packed social life and regular commitments. Unable to come to Beverley for the school holidays, instead we choose to go to them. Stella and Pip travelled with us and we rocked into their home at lunchtime last Wednesday.
Callum was already cooking the Beef Rendang for our dinner. The aroma was filling the house with warmth and spice. We unpacked lunch supplies and made sandwiches. Immy, initially slightly hesitant as she hadn't seen us for over two months, soon had me as putty in her little hand. She had changed so much. The previous time we'd seen her, she had just been sitting up. Now, she was sitting with ease, crawling, standing up and walking around furniture. She was vocalising loudly. She loved playing with her toys in her playpen. She was sleeping through the night. She adored company and hated missing any action, so was allowed to stay up after dinner. The following day, she was off to her first baby swimming class.
I sang to her and chatted with her and cuddled her. Her wonderful parents gave me free rein to have my "Immy fix". We chatted amiably all afternoon when Imogen slept for a couple of hours. A leisurely walk followed and we inspected the goldmine of discarded objects that had been placed out for a bulk rubbish collection.
Dinner was wonderful. The Beef Rendang had simmered for hours and was tender and delicious. Basmati rice was the perfect complement. Immy, having gone to bed, performed her Jack-in-the-Box impersonation and joined us for vino, dessert and conversation.
What followed was one of the best evenings I have been privileged to enjoy. We talked, rather than watch television. We shared our past, present, hopes and dreams for the future. We revealed our souls, our regrets, our "getting of (some) wisdom". Wow.
The following morning, we had another communal and convivial breakfast. Immy had her morning nap. Cal and Bron prepared to take her "swimming". We gathered our enormous mountain of overnight essentials and began the packing of the car to return to Heavenly Beverley.
After our hugs and kisses, we were unable to resist a final kerb crawl for any delectable items. We picked up two bar stools and joy of joys, a miniature slide for kidlets from eighteen months to four years old. We left the slide at Cal and Bron's front door before we turned Lily towards home.
Jan had opened and run the Gallery all day Thursday. After she closed the Gallery, she joined us, along with Greg, James and Celeste for drinks at Station House. We realised how lucky we are. We have fabulous family and friends who add so much joy to our lives.
PS And our darling Immy is also very lucky to have three grandmothers all besotted with her. Michelle, Helen and I all bring her different experiences. She will never be short on love.
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