Over the past couple of weeks, I have given thought to the resolutions I wanted to make for the coming year. I put them in this column last week, because I believe one key to success is to make your pledges known. Who will encourage you if no one knows your plans?

It takes just a weekend visit from your grandchildren to put things in a different perspective. Laura stayed with us this past weekend, so that her mother could properly celebrate her 30th birthday.

I happen to remember when my own mother turned 30 years old. I was eight at the time and aware that it was some sort of milestone. I turned 30 years old myself in the next blink of an eye. Now, my youngest child has passed that same milestone.

Yet, this weekend with Laura taught me over and over again that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Laura may look like a Faulk, but she has her mother’s traits and personality at every turn.

She is stubborn, yet enthusiastic about almost everything. She helped her granny make cupcakes to hold 30 candles for her mother, Elizabeth. There was one extra for them to taste on their own.

Laura is emotional at times, mostly when she is hungry. That is a trait that both my daughters carry and passed along to their children. The only advice I gave my son-in-laws was that if you always have a snack around, then life can be much more pleasant.

Laura got a lollipop for each time she told us she had to go to the bathroom. By the time she left, she had a pocketful of suckers of every flavor. Perhaps we were the suckers, as she seemed to have this down to perfection.

I read her three books before bedtime, only to be informed that she wanted granny to sleep with her. “Boys are hard and girls are soft,” she told me. I agreed with her, but don’t know that ever crossed my mind when I was 3 years old.

Laura said a blessing at a meal and a prayer at bedtime that were worthy of any adult. I credit her parents for that. She behaved better than some adults in church, being quiet and respectful at all the right times.

She said, “I love you, granddaddy,” as she left with her granny to go home. I hope I never lose the tug on the heartstrings that comes with hearing those words from my grandchildren.

I can resolve to lose weight, read books, and travel to the four corners of the world, but there is no resolution that will give me more pleasure or reward than just making time to enjoy my grandchildren.

Henry, Laura and those perhaps yet to come are one of life’s greatest gifts. Shame on me if I don’t take advantage of every moment of the joy my grandchildren bring.