Sunday, September 10th is Grandparents Day! And we’re celebrating a few days early with a tribute by Gayle Fraser.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BABIES GONE

 

Proverbs 17:6, “Grandchildren are the Crown of Old Men and the Glory of Sons is Their Fathers.

 

“Several weeks after two most rewarding family reunions this past summer, I woke up early one morning with this song playing in my mind: “Where have all the babies gone? Long time ago……”

 

Over, and over the tune ran through my mind. As I realized a song was wandering around in my head, I thought, that has to be a Beatle’s song. I tried to figure out the rest of the words to the tune.

 

Where have all the babies gone? Long time ago……. What is the next word?

 

Unable to figure out the words, I went into the office where O’B was reading his morning paper, Drudge, on the computer. After I kissed him and said, “Good morning,” I told him why I was up early.

 

“What are the next words to this tune?” I sang, off tune of course, my song by the Beatles and asked him to finish the sentence.

 

“Oh, my gosh,” he said commenting on my off-tune rendition. “That isn’t right. What are you trying to sing?” We discussed the song for a few minutes and he said, “I’ll look it up.” With his trusty fingers, he typed something into the computer and said, “It wasn’t the Beatles. It was Peter, Paul and Mary.”

 

“Well, of course. One of our very favorite singing groups from the 1960’s. Now what are the words?” I asked.

 

“Where Have all the Children Gone. That was the title.”

 

“But, what are the words?”

 

He read from the computer screen, “Where have all the young girls gone, gone to all young men everywhere, long time passing, long time ago.”

 

“That’s it! But why did I sing the word babies? Why did I wake up singing that song?”

 

***

 

Every grandmother, between the ages of sixty on up, knows why I woke up singing, “Where have all the babies gone?” She’s experienced the same thing. At this time, grandma’s experience another miracle of transformation. Her world changes again. There are no more babies. Where have they all gone? I guess I could say, “Gone to all young men everywhere, long time ago.”

I questioned, where is my little girl with a white bow in her blonde, curly hair, in her light blue button down the front dress, which I made, posing for a picture behind the rust colored high back chair?

 

Where is my little boy in his red cable knit sweater wearing his dad’s white cowboy hat twisting his fingers while posing for a picture at Christmas time?

 

Where is my little girl with her dark hair dressed in a maroon corduroy dress jumping on her newly received Christmas present, a spring rocking horse, calling giddy-up?

 

Where is my towheaded little girl who wore beautiful butterfly wings and danced around at her birthday party?

 

Thank goodness for later-in-life babies! The one grandchild who is not grown-up is eleven years old now. Thank goodness for great-grandchildren too. They continue to fill my heart with joy and happiness.

 

Still to this day I respond to the word “grandma,” whether it be in WalMart, out to eat dinner, on the playground, or in hearing someone else’s conversation. I love the commercial that advertises Ensure, a healthy protein drink for seniors. The commercial shows a grandma at the beach, standing at the water’s edge with a frisbee in her hand. In the background you can hear a little boy’s voice, “Come on, Grandma,” and there I am, stepping into the water throwing the frisbee to my grandson and fulfilling my need of the most rewarding position in the world.

 

During my slumber, Peter, Paul and Mary’s song helped me sort through my inner feelings, “Where have all my babies gone? They have all grown up and gone to young men everywhere, long time passing, long time ago.”

 

About Gayle:

 

Gayle has written and self-published a junior high girls’ curriculum, Dove, on self-identity and what Scripture says about being a young lady in Christ.

 

Has self-published a written curriculum, and developed a program entitled Grandma’s Faithfulness Pray Warriors, a weekly prayer group for Christian grandmothers who are encouraged to pray for their grandchildren. The foundation of the ministry is fifty-five positive characteristics from Scripture that we want to see in our grandchildren’s behaviors.

 

Has developed a ministry and written a curriculum for adult women who would like to come along side of a pre-teen promoting healthy, Christ-like characteristics and lifestyles through being a secret sister, entitled Shush, I’m a Secret Sister. The program is a year-long process with all details developed. The curriculum has proven to be very successful in several churches.

 

Oreo Floppy Tail; Mama and Her Five Munkies; and My Home Sweet Home are three children’s books she has written, illustrated and one has been self-published.

 

Is currently in the process of writing a devotional on Abba’s Whispers, and has just finished writing, illustrating, editing and self-publishing Love Stories From Grandma’s Heart, for my grandchildren.

 

Gayle and her husband have smuggled Bibles into China; participated in the Billy Graham Crusade in Moscow, Russia; toured Israel, and took her granddaughter to Hungary with our church’s youth group.