Acrobats from Akron

I shook the cobwebs out of my brain from a weekend in Branson, Mo. where we caught a couple shows, including our favorite, Acrobats from China. Cobwebs or not, I had to prepare for the next weekend’s flight to Pennsylvania to visit with the grandchildren and their parents.
At the Philadelphia airport, the children and their mother greeted me with hugs of joy and stories about their most recent adventures. The baby stared at me suspiciously. At six and a half months old, I arrived right in the middle of an intense phase of stranger anxiety. I could look, but she really preferred I ignore her and definitely not try to hold her. She might shake hands if I didn’t say a word. I told her she looked cute, just like her brother and went off with the other children to check out a children’s museum and eat ethnic food.
The next morning, at their house the children wanted to show me everything. I looked, nodded and ohhed and ahhed. .. and eventually I remembered to pull out the few items they had left behind at the family camp out.
That reminded the oldest. She ran over and picked up a coffee mug wrapped in school paper and gave it to me. “Grandmas are Love” the mug declared in blue, pink and purple.”
“It’s very pretty. Thank you very much,” I said.
Little sister ran to her room and brought back a little saucer from her toy tea set which she handed to me. “For you,” she smiled.
“Look the flowers match the coffee mug. It will make a perfect tea bag holder to take to work with the mug. Thank you,” I said.
Brother rushed out and returned with a yarn doodle bug he had made in Vacation Bible School and thrust it at me.
“Thank you, very much. I will take it to work and put it on my desk to look at,” I promised.
Their parents left us alone while they ran errands. First one then the other said, “Watch me, grandma, I can do a somersault, a cartwheel. I can stand on my head …” almost.
I watched and told them they reminded me of the Acrobats from China which I had seen last week.
“Did they do this?” one asked as she twirled like a ballerina and did somersaults with a half twist.
“Oh yes, they did somersaults, and they held each other up on their feet.”
“Like this, Grandma?” the oldest asked as she picked up her little sister on her feet and elevated her a bit. “Ta da!”
“Like that,” I said.
Later, I sat outside enjoying the breeze and watched them ride their bikes.
The Akrobats from Akron rode in circles just like the acrobats from China, weaving close and then far apart.
“Look grandma, I can ride with one hand,” the first grader announced proudly.
“Oh that’s easy,” his older sister scoffed.
I didn’t tell them that the Acrobats from China rode with no hands and part of the time with no feet on the pedals either.
“Did they do this?” She asked as she leaned off to the side. Her face said she knew she could be good enough to be in a show.
“Yes, they did. And they also did a handstand on the handlebars of the bike.”
She pedaled quietly for a second or two. “That would be very hard to do,” she announced and rode off with both hands on the handle bars.
Little sister dropped her bike and climbed the rope ladder making sure I noticed her fantastic ability to balance on the slightly swinging ladder.
“Wow!”
The little guy challenged me to a game of back yard hockey “you can use any of the sticks that you want,” he generously offered hoping to entice me to play with him.
I played. He kept score.
As we played with the Akrobats from Akron looked at me and pronounced, “your nice.”
“Well thank you very much, and so are you!”
After I loaded luggage into the car to leave, the littlest thrust a handful of ribbon and a marble into my hand. “This is for you, Grandma!” she said.
Back home, I stuck it into the box of momentos along with the “I love you ” note that her sister stuffed into my bag. I never take lightly a gift freely given, especially one personally handed to me by an Akrobat from Akron.