For those of us who miss our grandchildren — we need to cultivate local kids to keep our hand in the game.

Someone wants or needs a story to be read to them. Someone wants or needs to read a story to us.

Side benefits? New Stories. Old favorites revisited. Shared innocence and earnesty. Snuggles. Pretty much all good things.

And oh, new and interesting children in your life and in your arms. We’re made to love these kids. We should practice harder.

If there were more adults snuggling with children, particularly children not their own, if we learned the shape of those bodies in our arms, in our laps, there would be more Peace in this world.

This is not a difficult challenge to undertake. And if you don’t have grands yet, you can begin training.