SOMEONE TO LOVE—A GRANDCHILD

I remember an incident with a grandmother and a child when I lived in Michigan some years ago.

I saw a grandmother and two or three year old boy. It was an unusual scene because each morning this mother would bring the child into K-Mart for breakfast at McDonald’s. I became curious. One day I asked her who was this child that she had with her. They did not fit. The woman was caucasian late fifties or sixties and the child was dark black with distinctly negroid hair.

“What is he to you?” I asked.

“He is my grandchild,” she said.

I looked at her and was very confused. Surely she knows he is not her grandchild I thought to myself. He did not appear to be mixed at all. I began to notice little things. She was always so loving to him. She treated him special. How did she get this Black child. To whom did he really belong? Finally, I asked.

“He is my son’s child,” she said. He is my grandson. I know he does not look mixed and I told my son he needs to take a blood test. She shows me a picture of her son.

I am even more confused. From what I know about genetics, it is unlikely that this is her grandson.

She smiled and was so happy to have her grandson with her. She cared for this child for some years.  I used to watch her getting him ready for school and taking him there. I thought about this later. The heart does not see color. She needed someone to love. This child was perfect. Surely she knew this was not her grandson. Surely she knew this was a Black child. She did not appear to care. She had someone to love. He loved her unconditionally. A child has to be taught color and to hate. Otherwise, he simply loves the person who cares for him. This was his grandmother. This was her grandson. They simply loved each other. How simple. Someone had sent her someone to love.

I have recently remembered this grandmother as I see the hate and anger in our world. Too bad we cannot go back to the basics as this grandmother and grandchild did. They simply loved each other!