I grunt, looking down at my granddaughter. “You don’t repeat those four-letter words,” I order, wagging my finger at her.
She laughs while drool spills out of the side of her mouth. My chest warms and I don’t even try to stop the grin that covers my face while wiping her up.
“Stop distracting me,” I tell her before turning back to Ellyn on my computer screen. “She’s pretty, ain’t she?”
Amelia and I watch the twenty-minute-long video in rapt attention while Ellyn gives detailed instructions on how she styles her natural grey locks, along with three different grey wigs that mirror her own hair.
In the tutorial, she talks through the process of going from denial to finally accepting her greying hair.
“Now remember,” she says to close out the video, “you go and have a brilliant day. And if you can’t make your day brighter, make someone else’s day shine. Bye!”
“How was that?” I ask Amelia.
She claps.
“Yup, me too,” I agree, ignoring the fact that she’s one and likely has no idea what’s going on or what she just watched.
I sit Amelia on my desk. “Should we get some grey wigs for you? Huh?” I tease, while playing with the curly pigtails her mother styled her hair in this morning. “How do you think that’d look?”
She giggles when I pull her pigtails up to the top of her head.
“You like that look? What do you think Ellyn would say?”
Amelia looks at me with big, wide eyes.
“Nah, she’d say you’re a little too young for the grey hair.” I snap my fingers. “Let’s watch another video. How’s that?”
I pull Amelia back onto my lap and click on the next recommended video of Ellyn’s. In this video, she’s giving a tutorial on five different ways to wear some silk scarves she’s been sent by a company.
“Stunning,” I murmur while watching Ellyn fold the scarf into a triangle before using it to cover her hair. “Remember,” I tell Amelia, “this is just between you and me. No one else needs to know I’ve been watching YouTube tutorials on fashion and wigs, ’kay?”
She squeals.
“Thanks.”
Before my better senses get a hold of me, I’m clicking on a third video of Ellyn’s. This one is a makeup tutorial.
“Dad?” someone in the distance calls out, and while the voice sounds familiar, it’s not enough to pull my focus away from themagnetic woman on the screen. There’s an endearing quality about her presence that grabs and holds my attention.
It’s easy to see how she’s been able to gain so many subscribers and build a career out of this.
The way she weaves personal and inspirational stories into giving practical fashion advice is magnificent.
“Dad?!”
The voice at the door of my office startles me out of my concentration, making me jump.
“Shit!” I bark out at the same time Amelia squeals at the sight of her mother standing in the doorway.
I instantly close not only the webpage, but my entire browser, bringing up the home screen on my computer.
“What are you sneaking up on us for?” I growl at Savannah.
My daughter-in-law narrows her eyes, pinching her lips together as she looks at me with suspicion.
“Sneaking? You mean calling you three different times and knocking on the door before I entered?”
I blink and tilt my head to the side. Did I miss all of that? Is that why Amelia was squealing in my arms?
