On Thursday, August 14, our family welcomed grandchild number 10, John Henry Silcott. His brothers, Charlie and Thomas, and his sister, Olivia have decided his real name will be “Johnny.” Here’s Johnny!
14 years ago, at the end of this month, grandchild # 1 was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma where my daughter, Lauren and her husband lived at the time. Brady is now in 8th grade in Katy, Texas. His two brothers, Luke and Callum were born in Perth, Australia where the family lived for nine years shortly after Brady’s birth.
My daughter, Bethany rounds up the 10 with her two daughters, Caroline and Kate, and son, James.
Is there going to be any more? From my three oldest children, I don’t think so but one never knows. However, my stepson, Stephen is just shy of 23. Here’s hoping that one day he and his future wife grace us with more!
In my wildest dreams of what old age would look like I never imagined that I would be the grandfather (Pops) of seven boys and three girls. When I was younger if you told me that I would be a school principal and then added that three of my grandchildren would be students in my school, the very school that three of my own children had attended, I would have called your predictions wildly off base.
When I was 10, I was going to be a marine biologist, travelling around the seas in my cabin cruiser boat with my cousin, Michael. When I first went to Ohio State, I picked English Education as a major because I only had to take one math class. Although I grew to like the idea of teaching, it was to be a college professor or to teach in a foreign land.
Working in Appalachia during my Christmas breaks in college I contemplated becoming a Glenmary priest whose ministry is that very region and the rural south. But, as the old saying goes, make plans and God laughs, my life has obviously taken a vastly different turn. Thank you, Jesus!
I find that as my family grows, my worries increase. When my oldest daughter, Lauren, was born they found that she had a congenital heart issue and might not survive the first 30 days of life. I took that in stride and had my second daughter, Bethany, waiting for Lauren to grow enough to make surgery safer.
Now, when I am watching the grandkids for an hour or overnight or swimming in the ocean, I am terrified of all the things that might happen to them in the moment and in their lives. The Lone Ranger didn’t have to deal with that. He rode in, got the bad guys, and rode off into the sunset. From that original vision of a lone hero, I find myself the head, not only of a large family but the principal of 233 students, 25 faculty and staff members, and hundreds of parents. That’s why I ride my bicycle. It’s not the horse, Silver, but, for a brief time, I can ride off, usually into the sunrise as opposed to the sunset.
It is a great life! It’s messy and loud and chaotic, but I am blessed beyond anything I could imagine.
Jim Silcott