A teenage girl learns the importance of spending time with her grandfather.

“Why are you making me go?  Last year you said it was the last time, and now you’re making me go again!” Jenna yelled, referring to the county fair that was held every October.

“Because he’s your grandfather, and it’s important to him,” Jenna’s mother tried to explain for what seemed to be the hundredth time that afternoon.

            “But I’m in high school now!  Please don’t make me go!  I’m not a kid anymore!”  Jenna pleaded.

            “Jenna, I’m sorry, but you have to go with your grandfather,” her father reiterated, quickly beginning to lose his patience.

            “Fine, have it your way, but I’m not going next year!”  And with that, she stormed out of the kitchen, and went upstairs to her bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind her.

            Alone in her room, she began to cry.  She couldn’t believe her parents were making her go after they had promised her the year before it was the last time.  Although she loved her grandfather, going to the fair with him made her feel like a baby. Even worse was her friends had asked her to go with them, and now she would have to think up some excuse as to why she couldn’t go.  What would she do if she ran into them there while she was walking around with her grandfather?  She’d be mortified!  She tried to push the thought out of her mind.

            Monday morning at school as she pulled her books from her locker, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Hi Jenna!  How was your weekend?”  It was Sarah, Jenna’s best friend.

            “It was ok,” she answered shrugging her shoulders.  “How was yours?”

            “Ok.  Nothing eventful,” Sarah smiled.  “So, did you ask your parents about going to the fair next Saturday with Kelly and me?”

            “Yeah, but I’m not going to be able to go.”  Jenna kept her head down and quickly closed the door to her locker.

            “How come?”

            Taking a deep breath, Jenna decided there was no better way to do it than to just tell Sarah the truth.  “Because my parents are making me go with my grandfather.”

            “But I thought you said they weren’t going to make you go with him anymore,” Sarah replied, somewhat confused.

            “Yeah, that’s what they said, but apparently they changed their mind.  Can you believe it?  I’m fourteen years old and they’re making me go to the fair with my grandfather like I’m some little kid!”

            “Tough break.”  Sarah looked sympathetically at her friend.

            “Tell me about it!  I don’t know what I’m gonna do if I see any of them there.”  Jenna nodded her head in the direction of the group of kids standing by the water fountain, which was mostly made up of cheerleaders and football players.

            “Na, don’t worry about it,” Sarah tried to reassure.

            As Jenna and Sarah passed them, Jenna looked in their direction. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Jenna commented, noticing how they never gave her a second glance as she walked by. “They don’t notice me here, so why would they notice me there?” Jenna smiled.

Laughing, Sarah put an arm around her friend’s shoulder.  “Come on, we’d better get to homeroom before the bell rings.”

            Although Jenna spent most of the week brooding around her parents, by Friday she was resigned to the fact that she would be spending Saturday afternoon with her grandfather.

            Saturday morning her grandfather arrived promptly at eleven o’clock.  As Jenna walked into the kitchen, she greeted him with a kiss and hug.

            “Hi Gramps,” she said forcing herself to smile.

            “So Jenna, are you ready for our big day at the fair?”  Her grandfather grinned broadly.

            “Of course I am Gramps.”  And with that, she said goodbye to her mom, giving her a disgusted look, before going out to the car.

            Forty-five minutes later, after her grandfather had parked the car at the fair grounds, they headed toward the entrance.

            “What do you think about having some lunch first?  It’s just about noon now,” her grandfather suggested as he glanced at his watch.

            Jenna was feeling kind of hungry, and she had always loved the sausage patty sandwiches smothered with fried peppers and onions, and she could smell them as soon as they walked in. “Sure, Gramps.”

            As Jenna finished her Coke, her grandfather sipped his cup of apple cider.  “What would you like to do first? Would you like to walk over to one of the animal tents?”

            Jenna nodded, and as they walked in the direction of the animals, her grandfather linked his arm through hers.  Oh please, God, don’t let me see anyone I know!  Jenna thought, but smiled at her grandfather so as not to hurt his feelings.

            As they walked through the tent, Jenna and her grandfather noticed a small crowd of people standing a short distance away, and as they drew closer, they discovered why.  A cow had just given birth to a tiny newborn calf some hours ago, and it was already trying to stand!  As Jenna and her grandfather watched, he placed an arm around her shoulders, and as Jenna looked up into his face, she smiled at him. But this time, it was a real smile…not one of those forced smiles like she had given him earlier.

“Gramps, I can’t believe it!  All the years I’ve been coming to this fair with you and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a newborn calf!”  She said in amazement.  “He’s so cute!”

            “I don’t know if your mom ever told you, but I grew up on a farm.”

            “I think they might have mentioned it,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

            “I loved growing up on the farm.  I had to be up early with my father every morning, but the things that I saw and learned made it well worth it.”  And as he started to talk about his life on the farm, she noticed how his eyes lit up as he remembered his life as a child, which seemed so long ago to Jenna.

            When he had finished talking, Jenna looked at him and asked, “Is where you grew up very far from where we live now?”

            “Oh, I’d say it’s about an hour and twenty minute drive.”

            “Do you think someday you could take me to see it?”

            “Sure I can!  You just let me know when you’re free and we’ll go,” he smiled, and seemed pleased that Jenna had asked.

            They spent the rest of the day looking at handmade crafts where Jenna bought something for her parents, and they even sat for a while to watch a horse jumping competition.  When it was finished, Jenna tried her hand several times at a ring tossing game, trying to win a large stuffed teddy bear and lost.  After giving up, she started to walk away when she noticed her grandfather whisper something to the man that worked behind the counter.  She watched as her grandfather opened his wallet, and seconds later, the man behind the counter handed him the bear.

            “Jenna, this is for you, for spending your afternoon with an old man,” he smiled as he handed her the gigantic teddy bear.

            Jenna wrapped her arms around her grandfather’s neck, giving him a strong hug.  “Don’t say that Grandpa,” she whispered.

            As they began to walk toward the parking lot, Jenna admired the bear her grandfather had given her.  “Thank you Grandpa,” she smiled.

            “Thank you Jenna.”

            “For what?”  She asked.

            “For coming to the fair with me, of course!  Do you think I don’t know that at your age you have more important things to do with your Saturdays than to spend them with an old man like me?”  He laughed.

            She smiled at him then, and felt a bit guilty because she hadn’t wanted to go. “I love you, Grandpa.”

            “I love you too Jenna,” he said with tears in his eyes.

            “Grandpa,” she said as she opened the car door, “who knows, maybe next year when we come, we’ll actually see a calf being born.”

            Jenna’s grandfather smiled as a tear fell from the corner of his eye.  “Maybe, Jenna.  We’ll just have to wait and see.”