Next week is the third birthday of our fifth grandson. He lives 900 miles away. Sounds like a sixth grade word problem, doesn’t it? If you are trying to figure out how long it will take a train traveling at 120 miles an hour to get to his house, just let me tell you. Forever. Plus a two-hour layover.

As a grateful member of the Long Distance Grandparenting Club (I’m grateful just to be a grandparent) I have learned some tricks to stay in touch. I still think grandparents are one of the most important assets in a child’s life. So, we do things like this:

* On this birthday, we sent a DVD, a set of cowboy guns, and a talking picture frame starring Grandpa & I. When the little guy pushes the button on the frame, he will hear us say “Happy Birthday and we love you.” I hope he presses it a million times a day.

* We routinely video chat with a couple of preschool granddaughters in another state. Their wise mother is already introducing her two-month-old baby to Grandma’s face on the computer. Eventually, that will translate to kisses in real time.

* I email short snippets back and forth with our pre-teen granddaughters. We cover important details like, “Who do you like in the figure skating tonight?” and “I’m really missing you right now.”

*On Valentine’s Day, I sent text messages to our  middle-school grandsons offering to help out if the girls mobbed them that day. I got back some LOL’s and an assurance from our eldest that, “I think I’ve got it under control, Grandma. But thanks.”

My grandchildren will never remember me as the lady who baked cookies. But I hope they know me as someone who cared about their lives, even far away, and who did my best to stay connected.

Because it matters who you know.