My Grandson – Tyler Wilson

My grandson, Tyler, was born in October 1998 in Barcelona, Spain. I didn’t get to see and hold him until a week after he was born, when we arrived for a visit. He was such a smiling baby from the start that his dad appropriately nicknamed him “Tyler the Smiler”, a name that truly characterizes his personality. Because his family was overseas for his birth, Tyler has a Spanish birth certificate. He’s unique!

Being the second born, he always had his big brother to speak for him and thus, didn’t become the “big talker” of the family. In this way, he took after his Aunt Dena and waited until school age to really develop his “voice”. Tyler was such a happy baby though and quite fearless. He took to strangers easily and when it came to swimming, he was a little fish. He followed his brother everywhere and tried to do everything his brother did. He was determined to do whatever he set his mind to.

After Barcelona, he and his family came home to Oregon, but left again for another overseas year, this time in Singapore. They were all quite comfortable traveling the world. Upon his return, at age 4, Mark and I took Tyler to Disneyworld, just as we had done with his brother two years earlier. Again, Tyler was fearless about going on every ride! He was thrilled with it all and not the least bit nervous about leaving the family for a week. I think his parents were also more relaxed about letting him go.

After that first trip, Mark and I realized that we could handle traveling with both grandsons just as easily as with one at a time…plus the boys always had fun being together and sharing the experiences. So, we continued our summer trips taking both boys to Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Maryland, Canada, Hawaii, England and Wales. Tyler had a way of providing us all with so much laughter and fun. I have never laughed so hard as I have with him! He also has many times saved my butt! When a big wave crashed over me and I lost my glasses, he was there in a flash to dive down into the wave and find them for me. When I was about to step off the curb in front of a bus in London, he quickly grabbed my arm to pull me back. What a lifesaver!

I took one very special trip with Tyler when he turned 13. We went horse packing in the Canadian Rockies for a week. Tyler had never ridden before, but learned very quickly how to ride in very challenging terrain (steep mountains, high water, snow, etc), and he learned to set up camp and cook over a campfire, all while having the most fun adventure of our lives. Such wonderful memories all recorded on videos!.

Tyler started and completed his schooling in Eugene, OR. He also, like his brother, participated in gymnastics from an early age. Again I made videos of all his gym meets which were so much fun to watch. When Tyler was not at school or gym practice, he was most often on his computer playing adventure games with his friends. After an unfortunately accident at his church camp where he broke his femur, he traded gymnastics for swimming and joined the school swim team.

During high school Tyler also discovered he had another special talent … art. He expressed this not only in drawing, but in welding and metal sculpting, jewelry making, knife making, and bone carving. After high school graduation, he easily found a job working in a welding shop in Eugene, earning money for his college years. He now attends Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR where he is majoring in business. Who knows what he will do next? I can easily see him building elaborate sets or suits of armor for the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. Time will tell.