“Spending Time” With Brianna The Girl Wonder
(Pictured above: Brianna the Girl Wonder and “The Silver Surfer” from the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer http://www.fantasticfourmovie.com , in theatres June 15.)
As we noted in our last post, FanBoyWonder stopped long enough at home following our New York City business trip on Wednesday to unpack, repack and get Mrs. FBW then before dawn on Thursday we drove 10 hours to South Carolina to see our granddaughter and all-around pride and joy Brianna The Girl Wonder…..and also to attend the wedding of our step-daughter Laurinda during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
While we had just seen her a few weeks before during Easter weekend, we always feel a pull at our heart when we see our little girl as it feels like it’s been too long. We swear that she has grown some more during the few weeks that we saw her last.
We packed a LOT into our short visit with Brianna, including a blessed overnight stay with us at our hotel. For those readers with children, you all know what a joy it can be just to sit and watch a child sleep—for us it was a genuine treat to behold again.
Lest we forget, special and distinct thanks go to our good friend Dr. William Marcus for his special assistance that allowed Mr. and Mrs. FanBoyWonder to travel down South to see our baby girl. Bill has become like family to us and there isn’t anything we wouldn’t do for him—Thanks again Bill!
Meanwhile, A quick shout out and a word of thanks goes to Scott at Planet Comics www.planetcomics.net, the local comic book store where we took Brianna—just as we used to do when Brianna lived with us.
First and foremost, Scott was very nice to Brianna (who turns 6 next week)—always a good thing for an overprotective grandpa. Plus he helped us find a nice age appropriate comic to get—DC Comics’ Cartoon Network Action Pack, while Brianna insisted we get a Simpsons Comic for her Gucky (grandmother) or Mrs. FBW as you the reader know her. She’s a good girl who always thinks of others.
Brianna also got a mini Venom figure from the store’s gumball figure machine, just like we used to do when FBW would take her to Brainstorm Comics.
As for FBW, there was so much to choose from at Planet Comics but we settled on a nice trade paperback, CRISIS on Multiple Earths: The Team Ups, Volume 2. It includes rare early team-ups between the Golden Age and Silver Age Green Lanterns and even rarer pairings of the Golden Age and Silver Age Atoms. A good buy for just $14.99.
We also spotted and purchased a Jack Knight Starman figure. Knowing how much our best pal Kemosabe loves that run of Starman and seeing how the price was right, we snapped it up for Kemosabe. (“Who loves ya baby?”)
After our trip to Planet Comics, Brianna and FBW picked up Gucky at the hotel and we went to the movies to see Shrek The Third. We were only marginally aware of Shrek One and Two but it was an amusing 90 minutes or so.
We enjoyed just watching Brianna laugh. She put our head on our shoulder and leaned over and said to us “Dziadziu [pronounced ja-JEW, which is Polish for grandfather], I like spending time” and hugged our arm. We had trouble seeing the screen for a couple minutes after that.
The following morning, we picked up Brianna early so we could get some time with her before the wedding later that day at 3 p.m.
As FBW noted last week, for the first time since Brianna was a baby, she was not with us as a “helper” when FanBoyWonder and Mrs. FBW went to flag veterans’ graves in honor of Memorial Day. It had become a tradition with us and it was something we wanted to continue with Brianna—at least for one more year.
With a batch of 20 flags we brought with us, we found a local cemetery and once again, FanBoyWonder, Gucky and Brianna the Girl Wonder planted flags at veterans’ graves and sought to honor them in a small way.
During this, we talked with Brianna about the meaning of tradition and respect and how important it can be. She promised she wouldn’t forget. We also told her how much we miss her and even though we are far far away, we always think of her and she can always count on us.
When we planted our last flag, Brianna and FBW put our hands over our hearts and said the Pledge of Allegiance. Tradition, honor and respect. It was a moment that neither of us will soon forget.
When FBW and the Mrs. arrived at Grandma Sandy’s house for the wedding, we helped to get things ready as best we could. FBW helped Kenny the Groom and our new son-in-law with his suit. We also had a quiet word about what it means to be a man with a family, just how much Brianna means to us and a subtle warning to treat our little girl right. We’ll see how that works out.
The preacher arrived and the groom and bride were running late but it got started. Laurinda the Bride wore black, as did the groom, as did beautiful flower girl Brianna.
Mrs. FBW gave away the bride while Grandpa FanBoyWonder was drafted into being the audio/visual guy—working both the camcorder and the MP3 player for music (like giving a caveman an IBM ThinkPad).
The words were said, the bride was kissed and Mrs. and Mrs. Kenny Watson met the world. Kenny’s grandmother Sandy deservers much credit for hosting, organizing and planning the event.
The only sour note came later. A panicked groom came into the room with a “huge problem” as he told the bride he needed $25 cash for “an emergency.”
We thought he had to pay the preacher or some other unforeseen wedding expense so fatherly FanBoyWonder took him aside, took out our wallet and gave him $25 cash. To his credit, he tried to give us a $25 check…we told him to keep it.
However, after the groom disappeared for an hour with his two little friends, he reappeared in an…..altered state. Given his admitted and public history with controlled substance abuse, and that he is currently not working and that he just got married and that our little girl now calls him “daddy,” we’re NOT exactly pleased.
Being a man of the house means taking care of your family and taking of your family starts with NOT acting the part of the stoned slacker. Strike one Son!!!
Brianna was the life of the party of course. Everybody told her how beautiful she looked. As an aside, she is used to being told she is “pretty” and “beautiful” but during one of our chats, we told her how much more important is to be “nice” to people—that she should use her powers only for good.
At this point in her life, Brianna is beautiful both on the inside as well as out. She as a good heart and she shares—whether it be an M&M or a hug. But we worry for her future as we can only watch from arms length as she may have to become tougher and harden her heart to deal with the world around her.
As we prepared to leave after the wedding had long since broken up. We said our goodbyes to the Bride and Groom and well as Grandma Sandy the host. We all got through it.
Toughest was to come as Brianna hugged us and asked us again (she had asked several times during our visit) if she could “go home to Frederick, Maryland” with us. She started to cry but Gucky deftly defused what would have been a crying bit for all three of us with some humor and we laughed and cried only on the inside.
Brianna is in a nice place—in a nice house in a nice community—and Sandy provides a loving home for which we are so grateful but it’s not “home”—not for us and bless her heart not for Brianna as she said has said early and often that “I want to go ‘home’ with Gucky and Dziadziu.”
As we noted in our last post, FanBoyWonder stopped long enough at home following our New York City business trip on Wednesday to unpack, repack and get Mrs. FBW then before dawn on Thursday we drove 10 hours to South Carolina to see our granddaughter and all-around pride and joy Brianna The Girl Wonder…..and also to attend the wedding of our step-daughter Laurinda during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
While we had just seen her a few weeks before during Easter weekend, we always feel a pull at our heart when we see our little girl as it feels like it’s been too long. We swear that she has grown some more during the few weeks that we saw her last.
We packed a LOT into our short visit with Brianna, including a blessed overnight stay with us at our hotel. For those readers with children, you all know what a joy it can be just to sit and watch a child sleep—for us it was a genuine treat to behold again.
Lest we forget, special and distinct thanks go to our good friend Dr. William Marcus for his special assistance that allowed Mr. and Mrs. FanBoyWonder to travel down South to see our baby girl. Bill has become like family to us and there isn’t anything we wouldn’t do for him—Thanks again Bill!
Meanwhile, A quick shout out and a word of thanks goes to Scott at Planet Comics www.planetcomics.net, the local comic book store where we took Brianna—just as we used to do when Brianna lived with us.
First and foremost, Scott was very nice to Brianna (who turns 6 next week)—always a good thing for an overprotective grandpa. Plus he helped us find a nice age appropriate comic to get—DC Comics’ Cartoon Network Action Pack, while Brianna insisted we get a Simpsons Comic for her Gucky (grandmother) or Mrs. FBW as you the reader know her. She’s a good girl who always thinks of others.
Brianna also got a mini Venom figure from the store’s gumball figure machine, just like we used to do when FBW would take her to Brainstorm Comics.
As for FBW, there was so much to choose from at Planet Comics but we settled on a nice trade paperback, CRISIS on Multiple Earths: The Team Ups, Volume 2. It includes rare early team-ups between the Golden Age and Silver Age Green Lanterns and even rarer pairings of the Golden Age and Silver Age Atoms. A good buy for just $14.99.
We also spotted and purchased a Jack Knight Starman figure. Knowing how much our best pal Kemosabe loves that run of Starman and seeing how the price was right, we snapped it up for Kemosabe. (“Who loves ya baby?”)
After our trip to Planet Comics, Brianna and FBW picked up Gucky at the hotel and we went to the movies to see Shrek The Third. We were only marginally aware of Shrek One and Two but it was an amusing 90 minutes or so.
We enjoyed just watching Brianna laugh. She put our head on our shoulder and leaned over and said to us “Dziadziu [pronounced ja-JEW, which is Polish for grandfather], I like spending time” and hugged our arm. We had trouble seeing the screen for a couple minutes after that.
The following morning, we picked up Brianna early so we could get some time with her before the wedding later that day at 3 p.m.
As FBW noted last week, for the first time since Brianna was a baby, she was not with us as a “helper” when FanBoyWonder and Mrs. FBW went to flag veterans’ graves in honor of Memorial Day. It had become a tradition with us and it was something we wanted to continue with Brianna—at least for one more year.
With a batch of 20 flags we brought with us, we found a local cemetery and once again, FanBoyWonder, Gucky and Brianna the Girl Wonder planted flags at veterans’ graves and sought to honor them in a small way.
During this, we talked with Brianna about the meaning of tradition and respect and how important it can be. She promised she wouldn’t forget. We also told her how much we miss her and even though we are far far away, we always think of her and she can always count on us.
When we planted our last flag, Brianna and FBW put our hands over our hearts and said the Pledge of Allegiance. Tradition, honor and respect. It was a moment that neither of us will soon forget.
When FBW and the Mrs. arrived at Grandma Sandy’s house for the wedding, we helped to get things ready as best we could. FBW helped Kenny the Groom and our new son-in-law with his suit. We also had a quiet word about what it means to be a man with a family, just how much Brianna means to us and a subtle warning to treat our little girl right. We’ll see how that works out.
The preacher arrived and the groom and bride were running late but it got started. Laurinda the Bride wore black, as did the groom, as did beautiful flower girl Brianna.
Mrs. FBW gave away the bride while Grandpa FanBoyWonder was drafted into being the audio/visual guy—working both the camcorder and the MP3 player for music (like giving a caveman an IBM ThinkPad).
The words were said, the bride was kissed and Mrs. and Mrs. Kenny Watson met the world. Kenny’s grandmother Sandy deservers much credit for hosting, organizing and planning the event.
The only sour note came later. A panicked groom came into the room with a “huge problem” as he told the bride he needed $25 cash for “an emergency.”
We thought he had to pay the preacher or some other unforeseen wedding expense so fatherly FanBoyWonder took him aside, took out our wallet and gave him $25 cash. To his credit, he tried to give us a $25 check…we told him to keep it.
However, after the groom disappeared for an hour with his two little friends, he reappeared in an…..altered state. Given his admitted and public history with controlled substance abuse, and that he is currently not working and that he just got married and that our little girl now calls him “daddy,” we’re NOT exactly pleased.
Being a man of the house means taking care of your family and taking of your family starts with NOT acting the part of the stoned slacker. Strike one Son!!!
Brianna was the life of the party of course. Everybody told her how beautiful she looked. As an aside, she is used to being told she is “pretty” and “beautiful” but during one of our chats, we told her how much more important is to be “nice” to people—that she should use her powers only for good.
At this point in her life, Brianna is beautiful both on the inside as well as out. She as a good heart and she shares—whether it be an M&M or a hug. But we worry for her future as we can only watch from arms length as she may have to become tougher and harden her heart to deal with the world around her.
As we prepared to leave after the wedding had long since broken up. We said our goodbyes to the Bride and Groom and well as Grandma Sandy the host. We all got through it.
Toughest was to come as Brianna hugged us and asked us again (she had asked several times during our visit) if she could “go home to Frederick, Maryland” with us. She started to cry but Gucky deftly defused what would have been a crying bit for all three of us with some humor and we laughed and cried only on the inside.
Brianna is in a nice place—in a nice house in a nice community—and Sandy provides a loving home for which we are so grateful but it’s not “home”—not for us and bless her heart not for Brianna as she said has said early and often that “I want to go ‘home’ with Gucky and Dziadziu.”
It broke our hearts to tell her we couldn’t bring her home with us when I would give all that I have and more to have her with us.
We promised Brianna that we WILL see her again and that we love her and she can ALWAYS call us. It’s not the same but it will have to be enough for now.
I miss my little girl.
We promised Brianna that we WILL see her again and that we love her and she can ALWAYS call us. It’s not the same but it will have to be enough for now.
I miss my little girl.
posted by FanBoyWonder at 7:23 PM
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