Deb and Scott Davis, like many grandparents, had full plates. They’d built their dream house in Door County, Wis. Deb owned a spa. They had a large circle of friends.
But when Davis Small was born eight months ago, all that stuff became white noise.
“They were always coming here to see us and staying on an air mattress,” said Sarah Davis, Deb and Scott’s daughter — and mother of little Davis. “One day my mom said, ‘You know what? We’re moving to Chicago.’ They put their house on the market and someone bought it in a week. They packed everything up and came here.”
The Davises left behind a huge home with a bayside view to inhabit a Lincoln Park condo, currently filled with boxes and clutter and other signs of a life uprooted.
“Being here with Davis, all that other stuff simply doesn’t matter,” said Deb, 51. “There’s nothing like being close to the kids. It’s worth any sacrifices you make.”
Sarah said she and her parents have always shared a close relationship. But Deb said she never expected to be that grandmother — the one who lives down the road and sees the grandkids all the time.
“It completely caught us off guard,” Deb said. “We built this dream house and anticipated being there forever and ever. I always knew I would adore having grandchildren, and I adore my daughter. But I thought four hours would be the perfect space. But no way. No way. It’s just too special.”
Sarah, who lives with her husband, Andrew Small, in West Town and runs a nanny agency called Olive You Nanny, said she occasionally battles feelings of guilt, knowing her parents gave up their former lives to be a larger part of hers. But she loves having them nearby and cherishes the bond they’re creating with her son.
“I really want my son to be able to know them and be comfortable around them,” she said. “It’s important to them and it’s so important to us.”
Besides, Deb said, she and her husband plan to refill their plates with some non-Davis activities as well.
“We happen to live four doors away from a church that serves meals to the homeless,” Deb said. “We want to partake in that. I’d like to find some things to do for the community. At this time in our lives we get to make very different choices than maybe we were able to make before.
“We want to commit part of ourselves to the community and the rest of ourselves to the kids and enjoying each other.”
