A woman I know was visiting her daughter's family. Being a grandma to two young children has brought her rippling joy. She sat on the deck with her granddaughter Sandy, while her son-in-law cranked up the barbecue.

"Where is the moon, Grandma?" 

"It will come up as the sun goes down," she explained. "Soon."

"Where are the stars?" Sandy seemed worried. 

"Well, the stars are already there but you can't see them. When the moon comes out then you can."

Her granddaughter's lower lip quivered. She adored stars. 

"I will wait for them." My friend knew that dinner was almost ready, then was bath time and her daughter was unwavering about bedtime. She would not delay it for stars. Drat the summer solstice. 

"We can go inside and eat dinner, and then the moon and stars will come," she coaxed. 

"I'm too saaaaad." Sandy started to wail. The little girl's mother came running with a baby on her hip. 

"What happened?" She was quick to judge her own mother who was indulgent with candy and reckless play with paint. 

"There are no stars," Sandy looked up with unquenchable grief.

"Is that all?" The young mother had more pressing concerns, like a strange rash on her baby's feet, and packing for the weekend trip to the shore. 

But sometimes grandmas are more indulgent about waiting for stars, and she held her granddaughter in her lap. 

"Do you think that your brother will ever be as big as you?" she asked. 

"Yes," Sandy sniffed between sobs. 

"But he has to wait for it. Waiting can be hard." The weeping lost steam while she thought about this. 

"What if we write a message to the stars and I tie it to a tree. Then if you are in bed they will know you love them. You tell me what to say and I will write it."

Sandy held the offer seriously. "Yes, let's do that." My friend fetched stationary and a blue marker. 

"Dear Stars, I love you. Thank you for shining on me. I will peek out my window at you tonight when my Mama thinks I am sleeping. Don't tell. Love, Sandy." She hopped off her grandmother's lap and ran in to supper. 

Waiting for things we love can be hard. It can help to be with someone for whom a few minutes or decades does not mean never.