First --What's a Grandma Mingo????
When Melissa was pregnant with Anthony, she was trying to decide what
to call me. Robert's mom (her mother-in-law) would be called
"Nana" and her step mom Karen would be "grandma" because she was living
there in Las Vegas.....so what should I be called? One of my
friends from the bank suggested calling me "Grandma Mingo" because
I liked flamingos. The idea was cute and stuck....plus it helps
to give the boys something tangible to identify me with because I
can't see them often.
It's a tradition now. Each time I go to
Las Vegas to visit my grandsons we make a special stop at the Flamingo
Hilton on the strip to see the beautiful gardens, the live flamingos
and of course the statues of the flamingos that surround the pool
and gardens.
The first time we went Anthony was 6 weeks
old and of course we placed him on the flamingos for pictures. During
that very special "introduction" trip and meeting him for the first
time, I placed some flamingos in his yard. Now everytime the boys
see a "Mingo" they are reminded that Grandma Mingo is with them and
loves them. They have each been introduced to the flamingo including
little Timothy who met them in March of 2009 and he is learning about
our "flamingo world" now too.
Each time we visit take special
pictures together. We laugh and have fun there...it's our special
place...splashing in the fountain and climbing on the figures. I have
warned told Melissa that when the boys are teenagers and they get
caught splashing in the fountain or doing something silly...not to
call me to bail them out but just to laugh about it! It's all in fun!
