Grandchild Number 2 - Landon Joseph Little

Six Weeks Old

Thanksgiving, 2010

About 10 Months Old

                                                                                                                

3d birthday party (I think)

About 1 1/2

6th grade class picture-May,2010 

Grandchild Number 2 – Landon Joseph Little

                I remember VIVIDLY the night my daughter and her husband told Russell and me that they were expecting again. I cried immediately—not tears of joy, but tears of ‘FEAR.’ Anna was about 3 years old then, and I just couldn’t imagine going through that again! After Anna was born, we never took the pregnancy, birth-giving process for granted again.

                I got over my initial fear and got a bit excited, but I still had to hear every detail of every doctor’s appointment. It wasn’t until we saw that beautiful baby boy’s face and got to hold him in our arms on March 12, 1998, that we actually breathed a sigh of relief. We finally realized that what happened to Anna was an “accident” at birth, nothing genetic. However, we were still anxious when the rest of the grandchildren were on their way and did not breathe that sigh of relief until those sweet babies were here, safe and well.

                Landon was a BEAUTIFUL baby and child, and is a beautiful teenager—can’t believe he just turned 13! Not just on the outside (as these pictures show) but on the inside as well. I am so proud of the young man he has become and look forward to watching him continue to grow. I love the picture of him with his big sis, Anna. He must have only been 2 or 3; can’t remember for sure. It's hard to believe he will be in the 8th grade in the fall!

                It’s hard to explain what Landon meant to Russell and me. Again, we couldn’t love Anna any more if she were perfect; and taking care of her was (and still is) a joy, not a task. When Landon came along, though, and as we spent time with him, the love we felt for him and FROM him was amazing. If Anna was our heart—Landon was our love. We kept him and Anna a lot so we got very close to him; and, of course, Russell spent more time with Landon than any of the other grandchildren.

                Landon loved the same things Russell did. Russell was a scientist, and he was fascinated with LOTS of different things, especially coins, rocks, fossils, and literally ANYTHING collectible. He shared as much of this with Landon as Landon could stand, and Landon loved it all. Russell used to tell Landon that when he and Grammy retired, they were going to travel a lot. We were going to buy a travel trailer or RV and travel anywhere we could dig! Landon, of course, knew that he would be going along as well.

                In fact, he was so looking forward to it that one day, when he and Russell were shopping at Wal-Mart, Landon noticed some travel trailers parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot. He said, “Poppa, look—a “fossil traveler.” We wrote that down because we did not want to forget it. It was a classic remark.

                We received Russell’s dementia diagnosis in September of 2008. At that time, Landon was 5 ½. Russell had, however, already been sick about a year before that. For the next five years, though, he deteriorated fairly quickly. Russell had introduced Landon to coin collecting at an early age, and Landon loved to pull Russell’s coins out and look at them. Of course, Russell was thrilled to tell him about them; and he usually had a story about how he got each one of them!  Russell had even started bringing Landon with him occasionally to his monthly Vicksburg Coin Club meetings. After he was “asked” to retire early, in the summer of 2004, I had to drive them and just attend the meetings with them (Russell was unable to drive by then). We only went when he could bring Landon.

                During the coin club meetings, members could bring coins for the members to bid on and purchase. Landon asked if he could bid on some coins. We said of course. We were prepared to bid for him had he been shy about it; but when a coin came up that he liked, he spoke right up and bid right along with the other members. It was adorable! None of the coins sold for more than a couple of dollars, and the rest of the club members loved having him there so much, they gave him some coins to add to his collection. He was so excited!

                Russell was from South Louisiana (a Cajun!). Every time we went home (to Gueydan), we tried to take Landon with us. Russell introduced him to crawfishing and alligator hunting, which he absolutely loved! Russell couldn’t wait to retire so he could do more of this with his grandsons AND any granddaughters who wanted to.

It’s still hard to accept that Russell only got to know Landon for less than half of Landon’s life. They would, I am sure, still be so close now and would still be spending so much quality time together. And, since Landon lived with us during the last couple of years of his grandfather’s life, he helped take care of Russell and Anna and still helps so much with Anna.

                I especially love the picture of Landon with his big sis, Anna. I am sure that Anna is one of the reasons he was and still is such a sweet boy.

                I spend a lot of time with all 7 of my precious grandchildren; and it’s hard for me to realize that Russell doesn’t know any of them the way they are now. I forget how young they all were when he first got sick. Even though he knew Landon's longer, it breaks my heart to think that Landon may not remember Russell the way I'd like him to. I hope and pray that Landon has happy memories of his "Poppa."