Russ Towne's A Grateful Man

My Beloved and I are visiting our son Brian and DIL Kristi and our new twin grandsons, Alexander and Zachary.

We’re loving the time we are blessed to have with them. The twins very rarely cry during daylight hours. That’s great during the day, but not so great during the night, but thankfully there are more of us adults than there are of them so we make it work.

The twins are delightful. Each have their own distinct personality. Alexander has fair hair like his mommy, and Zachary has darker hair like his daddy.

I was holding Zachary during one of his rare fussy moments during the day, and it reminded me of when our children were like that we used to say they were getting “grungy”. So I looked down at Zachary and said, “Oh you Grungy Grumpalump” in a friendly, kidding sort of way. The word “Grumpalump” came to me just as I said the word “Grungy”.

The next thing I knew, a new children’s story began… I planned to use the title, “Grungy Grumpalump”, but double-checked what the word “grungy” meant and decided that “Grumbly” was a more accurate description of the character in my head. In that way, Grumbly Grumpalump was born.

Grumbly is a cantankerous fellow. In fact he’s mean, nasty, and grim. When he moves into the neighborhood, it’s as though a dark shadow has fallen on it. People begin to get less friendly and smile less often.

But he’s no match for little Wendy Goodlight and a pet kindness named Love.

I plan to share more about this new story on my website Clyde and Friends
at http://clydeandfriends.com. If you aren’t already following my creative adventures and misadventures at that site, I invite you to consider doing so.

With Love,
Russ

With Love,

Russ