A Little Frog’s Heart: The Coming of Age

Dedication

I dedicate this fourth volume within “A Little Frog’s Heart” series to my grandparents.

You might be surprised to find out that I have never met them. For a long time I had only known their names, as they were spelt on the cemetery crosses. This fact, albeit tragic, gave me a priceless gift: I selected the wisest, the most industrious, and the most attractive features in our village elders. I picked the best from everyone, which set off my busy imagination into creating the perfect grandparents.

This way, my grandparents became the ideal image in the way I would have liked them to be in the past and the way I would want to be like in the future. My grandparents, in my imagination, are beautiful, noble and determined. I am sure they have never been subdued. In their small world, consisting of just their little household, they were the best!

I would like to think that, with the passing of years, I look more and more like my grandparents: sometimes in look, other times in smile, some other times in anger! Many times I have wondered if I was indeed just like they would have wanted me to be. And then I’d stop: I’d lower and fumble in my little bag of memories… looking for yet unlived memories, looking for the hope of being blessed by my grandparents…

In my story, I write down the story of universal grandparents, their teachings, and their never-ending love for their grandchildren, descendants of their family and of the nation.