Opa, Here Is To You

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Nobody understands my son as well as my 74 year old father. " You are the best grand-son I ever had" he will say. " I am the ONLY grand-son you EVER had, Opa! " my son will reply.
That is true. My father had the good fortune to have a sensational wife and two pretty great daughters. In other words, he was surrounded by women. Even our dog was female. The first grandchildren were little girls. Of course, he loved them more than anything. He was resigned to the fact that he was the patriarch in a clan of strong (headed) women.
Until.....my son M. came along. I believe that my father's life truly changed the day M. was born. Here was the chance he had been waiting for to relive his own childhood. And reliving it he has. From M.'s first temper tantrums, to his first difficulties, to his first hobbies, my father understood them all. "He is just like his Opa, leave the kid alone" he tells me over the phone when I fill him in on the latest on M. " He has my genes."
My father sometimes spoils my son. Over my mother's objections, he was determined to buy a red scooter in the country for M. At first, the two would take off to roam the countryside together, M. sitting on the back, wrapping his little arms around Opa's belly. As M.'s legs became longer, he went off by himself. But the red moped is still my son's most prized possession. A gift from his Opa.
Intuitively, my father seems to know what my son needs: someone in his corner. "My boy, you have a one-person fan club" he told him just yesterday. He supports him in all of his dreams and aspirations. I hope that my son realizes that he has the BEST Opa in the world.