Post 4

Lona, this is quite a surprise! It’s good to see you here. I didn’t think I’d see you until I got home,“ said Grandpa Leo. 

 “I thought it would be a nice surprise and give us all a chance to visit. It’s been a while since we were all together”, said Lona.

“We all seem to stay very busy, but it’s good to have some time together with everyone”, replied Grandpa Leo, “Now would anyone like to see what I brought back from my trip?”

 “Yes”, cried Cassidy, jumping up and down, hardly able to control herself. 

 “Calm down”, said Cassidy’s mother, “Give Grandpa Leo a chance to show us what he brought”. 

 Grandpa Leo lifted the carry-on bag he’d carried in from the car. He rummaged around inside for a minute and then pulled out a small package, wrapped in a red silk cloth, tied with a yellow ribbon. 

 “I believe this is for you Cassidy”, said Grandpa Leo as he handed it to his granddaughter, “I ran across this in a little shop and thought it would be something you’d really enjoy having”.

 Cassidy reached out and took the package being offered by Grandpa Leo, barely able to control her excitement at the surprise. Sitting down she quickly untied the ribbon and unwrapped the silk cloth, exposing a hand carved wooden box. Lifting the lid, Cassidy saw that the box contained, nestled in purple velvet, a pendant attached to a thin golden chain. The pendant was carved in the shape of a horse from a solid piece of yellow topaz. 

 “The horse is your Chinese zodiac sign", said Grandpa Leo, “and the Chinese believe that topaz is associated with courage, confidence, creativity and security. It is used to overcome fears and achieve all kinds of amazing goals”. 

 “Awesome”, cried Cassidy has she gazed at the pendant, “It’s beautiful. I love it. Thank you! Thank you!”. 

Grandpa Leo reached into the carry-on back and pulled out another package. This one was wrapped in bright red paper with kanji characters. “This is for you, Angelina”, has he handed the package to Cassidy’s mother. As she un-wrapped the package, Angelina saw that it contained a beautiful blue kimono, trimmed in gold. 

 “This is gorgeous”, exclaimed Angelina, as she held it up to herself, “Thank you very much”. 

 “You are both very welcome and I hope you enjoy your surprises”, replied Grandpa Leo, “It’s getting late, so we better be going and let you all get to bed. Cassidy, I’ll see you tomorrow so we can go out to lunch. I’ll drop by around 11:30 am and we’ll drive to the restaurant”. 

 With that, everyone said “Good night” and Grandpa Leo and Grandma Lona left to go home.

Post 3

            “Mom!  Mom!  Mom!  He’s here, he’s here!”  Cassidy exclaimed as loud as she could without waking her little brother, Martin.  Martin was sleeping because he wasn’t supposed to be up this late.  Technically, Cassidy wasn’t allowed either, but her parents knew how much she and Grandpa Leo wanted to see each other.

            “Alright, alright.  I know you’re excited, but you’ve got to calm down!” Replied Angelina (Cassidy’s mom).

            “But he’s HERE!!!!!!!!!!”Cassidy actually did shout this time.  “Sorry!” she added because of the look on her mom’s face.  But her mom barely heard what Cassidy said, for she was already out on the porch steps.  As soon as the car’s engine stopped, she ran over and opened the door for Grandpa Leo.

            “Finally!  I get to see my Cassidy!” Said Grandpa Leo.  “I missed you SO MUCH!  Oh!  And guess what I saw!”

            “Not a rainbow!” Cassidy said.  Grandpa Leo always says that the things he got her were from the end of a rainbow, because when Cassidy was 5, Grandpa Leo and Cassidy had driven all over looking for the end of a rainbow.  When they got to the end of the rainbow, they didn’t find a pot of gold and a leprechaun, but a park that Cassidy had been begging her parents to take her to for a couple of months.  They played there for hours and hours until Cassidy’s parents called and asked what they were doing.

            Grandpa Leo interrupted Cassidy’s thoughts by saying “Oh, hi there!”  Cassidy turned around to discover her mom

            “Hello!” Angelina said.  “I’m so glad you’re here!  For 2 reasons.  Firstly, because we get to see you!  And secondly because we could only have a conversation with Cassidy about you!”

            “Mom!” Cassidy said with a playful slap on her mom’s arm.

            Grandpa Leo laughed.  “I bet that’s true!” he said.

            “How much will you bet me?” Cassidy retorted.

            Again, Grandpa Leo laughed, but didn’t answer.  Instead he said, “Can I get out of the car now?”

            “No, not at all,” teased Cassidy.  “Unless you come inside (quietly) and see the surprise.

            “Oh.  Then I might as well stay in here.” Grandpa Leo replied getting out of the car.

            The trio went inside.  Cassidy told Grandpa Leo to sit on the couch and close his eyes.  When he did, Cassidy whispered “You can come out now.”  A couple of seconds later, Grandpa Leo opened his eyes, on Cassidy’s orders.

            “Lona!  It’s been so long since I last saw you!”  Grandpa Leo exclaimed, after hugging Cassidy’s grandma.  Then he turned to Cassidy and her mother “And thank you for organizing this.”

Post 2

“Yes”; replied Grandpa Leo, “I’ll be getting some sleep on the flight from Tokyo, so I’ll grab a shuttle from the airport to your place and will see you and your mom and dad when I arrive.  I should be there around midnight, or so.”

Grandpa Leo was smiling as he talked.  He was looking for to seeing his favorite granddaughter, especially since it had been a month, or more, since he had last seen her.

“We can visit for a while this evening and then maybe we can have lunch together tomorrow, if you have time.” finished Grandpa Leo.

“That would be great.” replied Cassidy.  I’m looking forward to seeing you when you get here tonight and I have tomorrow off from school, so I would really enjoy having lunch with you. 

Grandpa Leo hung up the phone and thought about his granddaughter while he finished packing.  She was growing up fast.  Because of all the travelling he did for his work, he didn’t get a chance to see her as often as he would like.  He was also looking forward to having lunch with her, tomorrow.  It would give them both a chance to catch up on what had been going on for the last month that he’d been away.  He knew Cassidy always enjoyed hearing about the places he travelled to and Grandpa Leo was interested to hear about what was going on in Cassidy’s life while he’d been away.

He finished packing and then called down to the hotel desk to arrange a limousine to the airport for tomorrow.   He had a meeting by teleconference, early in the morning, and then would be leaving for the airport shortly after the meeting.  He was not looking forward to the long flight, but was looking forward to being home and seeing Cassidy and her parents.

Post 1

Chapter 1

“I’m coming home from Tokyo tomorrow!  But my plane will be coming in at 11:00 pm, so your parents probably wouldn’t want to drive you to the airport.” Grandpa Leo said to Cassidy over the phone.

“Could you just sleep on the airplane and drive over here when you get off?  I’m sure Mom or Dad could and would wait for you with me, and then go to bed.  We could just get some extra sleep tonight. Please?” Cassidy responded.

Cassidy was talking to her favorite person in the world: Grandpa Leo.  Grandpa Leo traveled around the world a lot, and right now he was in Tokyo.  She really missed him, but she knew that Grandpa Leo was having a lot of fun.  Besides, he always got her stuff when he went to foreign places.  And they always planned things to do right when he got back.  She was always very excited when he came back.  Especially today because Grandpa Leo had been in Japan for 4 weeks!  And usually he’s gone for only 1 or 2 weeks.

New and exicting stories coming soon to this location!