Got Gran-Maw?

If you've had more than one conversation with me, you've heard about Maya, my seven year old (soon to be eight!) grand daughter. Like every other grandmother-to-be, I was totally in love with Maya the very instant that I saw her! However, I was NOT (and am NOT) in love with the handle of "Granny!" I was so very afraid that Maya would call me Granny, that I announced that I would certainly NOT be called granny under any circumstances. Every time I thought about it, I pictured the little grey-haired matriarch of the Beverly Hillbillies fame. I even imagined my face over Granny's as Jed took her away from the mountains. I just couldn't bear it.

That's when I became Gigi! Unlike the moniker "Granny", this one, Gigi, sounded jazzy and snazzy, in other words, it sounded like me! When Maya came home from the hospital, I spent hours and hours just a few inches from her pretty little baby face, saying "I'm your Gigi." I just felt that repeating it many times a day to her would assure that I would not become stuck with Granny or possibly something worse.

For the first few years, it was pure bliss. Maya was totally down with me being not just Gigi, but HER Gigi. I was loving it, she was loving it and all was right with the world!

Then, one fateful day, after school, Maya climbed into her mom's car and was in a very sad mood. When asked what was wrong, Maya announced that everyone in her class had a grandmother and some even had two and she was sad because she didn't have any at all! Boy oh boy, was she happy when Marixa told her that I was her grand-maw. Yep, that's how Marixa decided to tell her, that I was her grand-maw. To Maya's delight, she immediately insisted on calling me on the phone and when I answered, she said "Guess what, Gigi, YOU'RE my Grand-maw!" You can imagine that I was not nearly as excited as she was.

From that point on, really, for about 6 months, Maya took any opportunity to loudly announce, "That's my grand-maw!" She was beaming so proudly when she said it, that I was sometimes able to mask my grimace. Over time, I got used to it, but I still didn't like it.

One of my better days came, when, satisfied that everyone on this planet had been notified that I was her grand-maw, Maya slowly went back to me being "her Gigi." What a freakin' relief! I'm still trying to scrub that Granny in the rocking chair out of my head, but life is good, cause I'm Maya's Gigi, plain and simple!