From Tents to Tweens

by Donald Cantrell

Ifind it amazing to watch my nine-year-old granddaughter go from stage to stage in her life. In all honesty, I was not the best dad in helping my wife with our daughter. Oh, I was there, but I was young and clueless, so I was not that great at changing diapers and feeding. Sadly, I missed out on the bonding that takes place in those early years of her life.

So, I made up my mind that I would not do the same as she began growing up, entering school, going to dance classes, recitals, and cheerleading. It was during those years that I stepped up to the plate and became the dad that I should have always been, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. I was even the chaplain for some of her middle school football and basketball teams—what a joy it was to be so involved in her life during those years.

Then came along my granddaughter, who decided to try and enter into this life nine weeks early. So, the doctor put my daughter in the hospital for two weeks before allowing her to have Kinsley seven weeks early. She came into this life with bright blue eyes and dark hair, she weighed in at 3.10 pounds, and I was immediately in love and began to understand why they called them “grand.”

My daughter went back to work after staying home for four months, and guess who volunteered to keep our most precious commodity of life—yes, it was me, and obviously they had no other options, so they hesitantly placed that precious little girl into my care. I quickly learned the art of feeding and changing diapers, along with our poodle Coco, who loved her as much as we did.

Over the past nine years, I have literally witnessed every moment that mattered in her life as she progressed from step to step. I was there when she rolled over, when she took her first steps, and when she uttered her first words. I tried with all my might to teach her to say poppy first. I was the one that took her to most of her doctor’s appointments and eventually dental appointments.

In time she began to go to preschool and then to kindergarten, where she literally cried until around Thanksgiving, day in and day out. I watched her as she battled the loneliness of having to take online classes during the pandemic and saw the joy on her face as she was able to return to school full time again. It has been the most awesome opportunity that this poppy has ever had.

Now my little girl is merely six months from being a tween. Just this past week, my wife and I saw her go from sleeping in her little blanket and pillow fort—as I slept on the bed beside her—to sleeping by herself on her bed with the door closed. Each and every day we are witnessing her growth, and sadly we cannot slow it down. She will soon be a tween, then a teen, and I will still want to see her in her fort.

About The Author Donald Cantrell is a lifelong native of Murray county and has been pastoring and preaching since 1980. He has had the honor of publishing over thirty books and his sermon material is sold all over the world by various online companies. If you visit his house any weekend in the fall you will find them watching the “Florida Gators or the New England Patriots… Chomp Chomp.”