Andrew (my 'son', not by birth but choice) and Kim (his sweet wife and also a child of mine by choice) had a baby a year and a half ago. Audra was the prettiest baby with the BLUEST eyes! Kim's mom had passed away suddenly a week before Audra was born. Andrew's mom lived about an hour away. Kyle and I were right here and got to play like we were grandparents quite often. I thought of myself as her grandma, but did not want that name. I knew she would need to call me something, but none of the traditional names seemed right or they were a little too 'family' like. I am not her Grammy, her Grandmother, her Mawmaw, nor her Mimi. I needed a name that fit me. Seemed like I had a little bit of time, though...she was still little.
One of those Friday nights last fall, we headed up to a game near Jacksonville, TX. Fast food was always on the menu as we traveled to these games, so we ended up at Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was mid November when I walked into the restaurant. It was pretty crowded, so the food took a while to be prepared. As I waited, I looked around the room. Lots of young people headed to the game, a few older couples, and one young family that stood out. They had two daughters that were both dressed in PJs and robes. It was no where near bedtime, so their clothes caught my eye I listened as the older girl talked and talked. She might have been 4. She was very cute,and talked non-stop! She turned at one point and looked right at me, so I smiled at her. She took this as an invitation to talk. "We are on our way to see Honey and Pop! They are going on the train with us. We haven't ever been on a train before!" I wasn't sure which train she might have been talking about, but her mother jumped in with an explanation. "Honey and Pop are my mom and dad. We are meeting them at the Polar Express Train in Tyler." I knew that they did this during the holidays, a real life recreation of the Polar Express movie for young kids complete with a train ride and hot chocolate. How fun!
Honey and Pop...Honey and Pop...something about those names just spoke to me. Maybe I could be Honey for Audra. That seemed right! I came home and told Kim about meeting the little girl. I mentioned that I'd like to steal the name and use it with Audra. We agreed that Audra would probably come up with her own name for us, but that those would be good ones!
Fast forward to Christmas. We had Andrew and Kim over for a Christmas get together. We all exchanged gifts. I have no idea what we got them, not even what we got for Audra. What I remember is what they got me. A beautiful box that held a very pretty silver key chain...the key chain opened and was a locket. No pic of Audra (and I still have not remembered to put one in there!), but on the inside it said "To Honey, Love Audra". I had a name!!
Audra is now 19 months old. She is walking everywhere, talks all of the time, sings, loves Welch's fruit snacks and the puppies. She is funny, curious, bossy, a little spoiled (we could not help ourselves!), and is going to be a big sister in November. She is growing up into a delightful child that everyone loves. For me, though, she is the grandbaby I have not officially had yet. Kim asks her "Do you want to go see Honey and Pop?" and her eyes light up! She has this way of shaking her fists when she is excited, and that is usually her reaction to this question. She loves Pop just like I remember K'Lynn, Ryan and Hannah loving his dad, PawPaw. She will go to Pop from almost anyone. She gets excited about the books he reads to her and enjoys just sitting in his lap and watching our puppies. Blood or no blood, this is Kyle's (Pop's) grandbaby!
I am enjoying the role of "Honey". Audra loves to come to my house and to pull my yellow step stool around the kitchen. She counts on the fact that I will have lots of fruit snacks. She gets down on her hands and knees and plays in the dog's water bowl. I buy Dr. Seuss hardcover books so that Pop can read to Audra when she is here. I sit in the recliner with her and we play with Lucy and Cooper. I let her play with my phone and she know just how to go to the pictures and to watch videos (almost all of her). I ask if she can come to stay with me at the house often. We walk around in the yard and I give her baths in the sink when needed. I find myself doing many of the things MawMaw (Kyle's Mom) used to do when my kids were little like gathering all of her things and sending them home in a Walmart sack or sending a plastic container home with her of some food that she enjoyed. This doesn't trouble me at all, since MawMaw was a great example. Also like MawMaw, I invite Kim and Andrew over often to have supper with us. I don't really think I cooked the first two or three years of our marriage. We ate with Kyle's parents really often because they wanted to see K'Lynn and then Ryan. Worked for us! Lol!! Don't get me wrong- we love Kim and Andrew too, but Audra is a big part of this!
I am happy to have become Honey this past year. When Kim and Andrew's new baby comes in November, I will continue with this role, then to two little girls. Audra and Autumn. Someday, Ryan and Courtney, K'Lynn (and someone!) and even Hannah (and someone!) will have children of their own. I will love them all, but Audra will always be the first. Not sure if the grand babies to come will call us Honey and Pop also, but I bet they will. Becoming Honey has been the best!!
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