Deep in the basement of the Grace Lutheran Church around a horseshoe shaped arrangement of card tables and folding chairs sat a group of grandparents who came together to share their unique stories of circumstance to like minded peers.
Laughter often mixed with moments of uncomfortable honesty as a pair of boisterous grey-haired women bantered back and forth telling jokes at the expense of each other. You can't help but smile while they go on about their struggles bridging the age gap with their grandchildren or defending their sons and daughters with the argument that they were once young and made mistakes too. You smile because they laugh, but also because you know that they do what they do because of their love for the children they've adopted.
At one point a heavy canvas curtain cracked open and a pair of young girls made their way through a maze of steel chairs. They approached their grandparents, Donna and Jim Johnson, and interrupted a grown up conversation about finances and fundraisers and shared with them a pair of pictures that they had drawn. On the two matching pieces of thick yellow construction paper the Johnson family had been drawn as a bowl full of fish. Grandma was the big clown fish and, of course, grandpa was the big blowfish. The family shared a laugh and even the reverend who was attempting to lead the discussion stopped to join in.
It was a great moment that made my night. These kids had been given a second chance by their grandparents after circumstances forced them from their parents. You just sort of got a sense that everything was going to be alright. And that's why I was smiling.
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