I am a very lucky grandma because I have my wonderful granddaughter Adeline staying with me so she can attend Horse Camp nearby. 

We’re having lots of fun and I am very impressed at how self-sufficient this eight-year-old is.  She usually wakes up before me (no real surprise there), and then heads downstairs to begin packing her lunch for the day.  Then she’ll get dressed and ready to go. She knows the routine and she’s a self-starter. 

 Adeline has also been searching in our little vegetable garden, finding tomatoes and cucumbers ready for picking.  She helped me make a salad for dinner yesterday that was quite delicious.  She even helped clean up afterwards.  

 Today we had a romp in the sprinkler after she returned from camp.  Yesterday she helped me water my flowers.  We are certainly keeping busy. 

It seems such a short time ago when she was learning to walk and talk and now she’s so grown up. 

For a while now, it’s been just me and my pup Georgie in the house, and Adeline is a lovely, lively addition to our household. It’s nice to have someone to share a meal with and watch a show or two.  She’s the perfect houseguest – cheerful, helpful, and polite.  And she seems to be enjoying her time in the country with Mamie (that’s me). 

 I, by contrast, was the most homesick kid you can imagine.  I couldn’t even last the night at my Grandpa and Grandma Kohler’s house in Kohlertown.

 I still remember being driven home by Grandpa in the middle of the night because I cried so much.  I couldn’t even sleep in my cousins’ treehouse, which was within sight of our house, because I missed my mom so much. 

It didn’t get much better when I got older.  I went to Camp Epworth, which was a Methodist Youth Camp outside of Kerhonkson. I was usually pretty miserable there.  I didn’t cry but I wasn’t happy. I always felt like I was missing out on all the fun back in Callicoon. 

By contrast, my granddaughter is perfectly at ease staying here.  Thankfully, she is enjoying camp as well as our time together. Unlike what Grandpa Kohler went through,  I don’t foresee any midnight drives to Manhattan to reunite her with her parents.  

I am delighted to have an honored guest for a summer visit.