It is the Friday before Christmas, time to decorate a gingerbread house with my granddaughter. I was waiting for her to wake from her afternoon nap and convinced my son in law to turn on "It's a Wonderful Life." I learned recently that he has never seen the movie. Of course, my daughter has several times and for some reason, she prefers "Scrooged." But that is a whole other article.

It is always special to spend time with my daughter and her family. They are my lifeline in this time of pandemic and uncertainty. We value every minute together, keeping distant when needed, and count the days until we can come together for a dinner, walks in the park, or just play in the backyard with my grandchildren.

She came down the stairs sleepy eyed and smiling from ear to ear. Her energy level has not kicked in yet and she climbed on her Daddy's lap. He is happy to be distracted from the movie, seems it was not impressing him like "Christmas Vacation." The sun was starting to set, and she looked out and asked me if I would take her outside to play.

I told her not now because "It's getting dark and we are going to decorate the gingerbread house." She sprang up and ran into the kitchen to get the box that has the precut gingerbread, icing, and candies to create the tasty treat.

She looks over the pictures on the box and exclaims, "A house made of cookies, yum!" She is too funny sometimes and her comments are priceless. Her Mama tells her to sit at the kitchen table and she runs to her chair and climbs up with anticipation. Mama tells her to promise to go slow and not to eat all the candies from the box. "Okay Mama," she says, and the contents are laid out on the table.

My daughter is a pro at managing kitchen activities with my granddaughter. So, I follow her lead. She puts the candies on a paper plate and tells her daughter not to touch them. Surprisingly she doesn't and my daughter and I work on setting the house on its tray. She has a pretty good knack for frosting and the tiny house is quickly assembled. The chimney was a bit of a problem, so we gave it to my granddaughter to eat. It was just what she needed, and I poured her a small glass of milk to wash it down.

The icing ran across the top of the house and my granddaughter and I quickly added gumdrops and some tiny beaded candies to it. My daughter iced the roof in a lattice style on both sides and my granddaughter added candies to one side and I did the other. The windows were lined with icing and candies as well as the front and back doors. The rainbow colors of gumdrops, sweet tarts, and tiny hard candies slowly brighten the little brown house.

It is a masterpiece of love and memories. A few years back I wrote an article about my granddaughter and me making my family's favorite holiday cookie and I am so happy I can share this special time as well. I know many of you are not grandparents yet. I also assume that most of you won't risk seeing them. I don't expect you will ever really understand the importance of the time spent with grandparents until you become one. If I had one wish for this holiday season is for every grandparent could visit with their families, whether by video, in a social distance setting, or in person.

Happy Holidays!