Waiting for my son-in-law to come into the freezing, stark waiting room to tell us that my first grandson had arrived, I was thinking about the sweater I wished I had worn rather than my impending life change.  Becoming a grandmother was something I had never been particularly interested in.  

I was at the peak of my career as a corporate lawyer with a full load of the work that I loved.  I didn’t have time for what I imagined as “grandmotherly responsibilities.”  Finally, “Jack Hayden Archer” has arrived, his beaming father entered and announced.

The excited family trouped down the narrow hall to the nursery where an expressionless nurse held the baby wrapped in a pale blue blanket for us to view. When she pulled back the blanket from his head there was a hush.

Later, in her room, I lovingly watched my daughter nestle the little giant to her breast.  The look on her face was pure love.  When she handed my grandson to me, I felt his warmth.  His chubby little fingers wrapped around mine and I realized I wanted to be with him more than anything.  His dark brown eyes seemed to say, “I love you, grandmom.”

I no longer noticed his cone head.  It was about the meeting of our hearts. 

Patricia Hunt Holmes PhD, JD

Patricia Hunt Holmes, PhD, JD, is a retired public finance attorney and former professor with expertise in nonprofit healthcare and rural electric cooperative finance. Recognized in Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers, she has also published in Texas Lawyer and spoken at national conferences.

Patricia holds a PhD in Russian and South Asian History and a JD from the University of Houston. She is the author of two novels, Searching for Pilar and Crude Ambition, and is actively involved in Houston’s social service community, including serving as a Trustee for the Houston Grand Opera.

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