I was sitting at my desk when my iPhone rang.  I saw the 801 area code and I knew it was a call from Utah but it was not a phone number I was familiar with at all.  I answered it.

Hello.

Hi, This is Brian.

Brian?  My memory trying to connect the very young voice on the other side of the phone call to a person I knew. All of a sudden my heart skipped a beat. Brian!  My grandson.  My oldest daughter had a son when she was 16 years old that she decided to give up for adoption.  That was over 10 years ago.   The adoption was an open one so it meant that we were able to keep in contact with him.

Over the years, I have been able to visit him and his family.  He has a wonderful family. They adopted three other children after him.  he knows I am his grandfather and calls me , Tata , the Chamorro word for Grandpa.

Thank you for the gift.

Yes, I sent him a Christmas gift that arrived after Christmas because I wanted it to come as a surprise from me and have him open something after the holiday.  It was all this World Series 2010Champions memorabilia of the San Francisco Giants. He loved it.

We chatted over a lot of things. He loves playing football and now he is going to play basketball.  He is doing well in school and listens to his parents. He is excited about a planned trip to the bay area where his family will be able to go out to Alcatraz.  I can’t wait to see him when he gets here.

He told me he could text me anytime.

After the call ended, I sent him a text.

I shortly received his text response.  Love you, too.

My heart was full that day from a grandson’s love and his phone call.