Does having grandkids make a fellow old?

If having grandkids is a sign of age, I think I’m getting old. The number of my grandkids is getting close to catching up with the number of our kids. Our 14th arrived on Friday.

With just a couple more, the score between kids and grandkids will be tied; and after that it will be more difficult to keep track of my grandkids than kids - a sure sign of old age!

On Friday, Mrs. Griz and I, just minutes after his birth, received photos of Elijah, grandchild number 14, born in Jonesboro, and we received them in our car while driving back for a visit with other kids in northwestern Kansas. That in itself, kind of dates me since it wasn’t that long ago when we’d have had to wait a few weeks for a photo to beprocessed and then sent through the mail.

If having a multitude of grandkids isn’t enough to remind a fellow he’s getting older, the names of my grandchildren could contribute to the thought.

As we were driving along through the wilds of Kansas, Mrs. Griz reminded me of my roots in antiquity by asking me how it feels to be so old I’m a grandfather to Elijah.

I guess I hadn’t thought about it too much before, even though I have sons named after three of the four Gospel writers and another named after the Old Testament patriarch Jacob - I could probably claim he was named after the New Testament James since the difference in names is connected to language and translation.

So, in addition to being father to Matthew, Mark, Luke, Micah, Stephen and Jacob, I am a now a grandfather to Elijah, Isaiah, Joseph and, yes, Noah.

Of course, there are daughters, too. I’ve got a Sarah, Leah, Hannah, Rachel and Elizabeth. I sometimes tease by saying that my name should have been changed from Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude) because of our 16 kids. But then, my grandfather was father to 18 children and so had even more to brag about.

The numbers of children and grandchildren alone do indicate I’m no longer a young man. But then, being a grandfather to Noah could predate me to the Flood and make me older than Methuselah.

I guess it’s no wonder that I feel old and my bones tell me whenever it’s going to rain again.

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected].