By Vicki Bahr 
Dear Connie,
How could we know as we stood on Makena Beach in Maui, watching Adam and Debby smile as they looked into each other’s eyes with such love, that four years later our granddaughter Makena would be in our arms?”
And so I began my note to our son’s mother-in-law, Connie, written on the inside page of “So God Made A Grandma” I was sending to our granddaughter’s other grandma as Makena turns 19.
I can’t imagine a better gift for the woman who was waiting patiently with me at the hospital the night/morning Makena came into the world and made me a grandmother for the first time.
Adam and Debby were married in Maui by a robust, wonderful Hawaiian man, Brother Al, who rode up to Makena Beach on a huge white motorcycle and led us in the most beautiful wedding service we could ever have imagined for our son. Connie, David, John, and I were the only attendees, and our children’s wedding was perfect and so very memorable.
When they found out they were expecting a daughter—John’s and my first grandchild—we were ecstatic, nervous, and so very grateful that God was so good to us. They shared the news with Brother Al, of course, who joined in our prayers of thanksgiving and sang a traditional Hawaiian lullaby to them over the phone.
Just a few weeks later, our older son and his wife were sharing their own good news: they were expecting too, and it was a boy! Such a whirlwind of excitement and nerves, showers and shopping, expectations and worries! How could John and I possibly be grandparents when it seemed only a few years before we were welcoming our own children into the world?
When the call came that Adam and Debby were at the hospital, all was going well, and there was no need for me to come yet. But, of course, I did. John was working a night shift at his job, and I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping any more that night anyway.
Connie and David drove over three hours to be there, and we were the only three in the waiting room. It was quiet and peaceful and unbelievably nerve-wracking, but Connie talked to me about her grandchildren and what a wonderful grandmother I was going to be. She cried with me and laughed with me and admired the baby quilt I had cross-stitched over the months. We both jumped up when Adam came walking in with tears in his eyes and whispered, “She’s beautiful, and Debby did great. Her name is Makena, and she would love to meet you.”
Now Makena is turning 19, finishing her first year of college, and admiring her younger sister’s new driver’s license. I am the grandma of nine, writing an inscription on the first page of “So God Made A Grandma” for Connie, who was with me at the very beginning, and sharing the wonderful news that I am honored to have a memory of my own grandmother included on page 211.
Life is so good!
by Tiffany Yoder 
