You see, I told you so -- there's lots of things I know

As today's the first day of the blogger challenge, I had been putting some thought into what I was going to write about about last night. My original topic for discussion will be saved now for another day -- possibly tomorrow -- as there is something quite immediate on my mind.

My phone rang at 5:30 am this morning; never a good sign. One can pretty much bank on the fact that there is not good news to be had when one answers the phone at that hour.

My mother was on the other end of the line and she informed me that my grandmother was in an ambulance on the way to the emergency room. Without getting into specifics, she is unwell. She is 84 and very small and frail -- I no longer recognize this woman.

I will soon be leaving the city and going home to take care of a few things before heading over to the hospital to visit her. As this blogging contest was suggested by my cousin, Elizabeth, she is on my mind as well. I am filled with thoughts of times spent in my Nanny's house when Liz, her brother Francis and I were little -- before all the other cousins were born. Sleepovers that made me cry because I missed my mother; making cookies with Anisette; pizzelle irons; and Jell-o made with "Nanny Magic" -- a secret method that allowed bananas to suspend in the Jell-o! I was very young and didn't understand how the Jell-o thing worked -- I believed it was magic, or at the very least, a secret I would one day uncover the truth behind.

As I sit here at my office desk, I yearn for those days. When everything seemed safe and wonderment could be found in the simplest of every day occurences. That's what we let go of as we age -- wonderment. It fades more with every birthday; every milestone. The more I know, the less I believe in anything magical or wondrous. However, I still do smile when I eat Jell-o with bananas in it.