#grandpa
GRANDPA MEMORY
Our cabin in North Carolina was built by Deborah’s mom and dad in 1983…
It rests on the side of a mountain…nestled in among the trees.
When Deborah’s dad was alive he had a garden terraced off at the bottom of the yard.
He built a pathway to this garden…to make the walk down there…not quite as hard.
This was no easy task…you have to understand…
as he molded each square out of cement…and placed them in the ground by hand.
When our family would visit in the summer time…
our children would run up and down his steps with smiles and wide eyes..
to pick vegetables and blackberries from his garden…play in the woods
or in the evening to chase fireflies….
Our grandchildren used his steps to take them to a fort we made when they were small
Our dog Whitman used his steps chasing countless tennis balls.
When Grandpa was alive he kept his steps in perfect condition…
clean with no weeds around them,…
because he knew when we would visit…our children would be running up and down them.
But Grandpa is no longer with us and our children and grandchildren have grown…
which means Grandpa’s path…once used to play on and explore…
those 41 steps that led to countless adventures…aren’t used as often anymore.
As children grow their interests change and their desires to play in the yard wane…
now on Grandpa’s path…up and down those steps…only memories remain…
But that doesn’t stop me every summer…once we arrive…
from taking a hoe a sickle and a little brush too..
and cleaning off each step on the path…just like Grandpa used to do.
It is a labor of love…making sure Grandpa’s path is as perfect as it used to be…
because on the one hand I know somewhere…Grandpa’s smiling down on me…
But I also have an ulterior motive…each year I’m on my own crusade
to make that path exactly the way it was when our children’s memories were made.
So if you happen to visit us in the summer at the cabin…
and you see an old main in the yard with a hoe, a sickle and a little brush too
Don’t be alarmed…he’s just getting an old path ready for summer…
just like Grandpa use to do.
GRANDPA AT THE WEDDING
The wedding ceremony was over…the reception was well on it’s way…
when the grandfather took the newlyweds aside whispering,
“There’s something I’d like to say.”
“You will always remember this moment over which your love has cast its spell…
but my advice is to make sure you enjoy all the little moments of love as well.
Huge moments like today are wonderful…worth savoring…as everybody knows…
but it’s the little moments spent together every day…where love is nurtured…
where love grows.
It’s how the touch a hand upon your cheek…
or a simple kiss can make your insides spin…
It’s holding hands so tightly you don’t know where your hand ends
and where the other hand begins…
It’s feeling how well you fit together in those moments you embrace….
feeling like every day you’ve won a prize.
It’s immediately knowing something’s wrong…
when you look into each other’s eyes.
It’s knowing what the other one is thinking…
It’s enduring all kinds of weather…
It’s accepting each other for you you are
as you grow up and grow old together.
It’s how…when you close your eyes and think of each other…
It will always make you smile.
It’s remembering forever this day…the day you walked together down the aisle.
Finally it’s understanding your life together will have moments of sorrow
As well as moments of great joy and thrills….
It’s knowing every moment won’t be perfect…bus so many moments will.
So go and have a wonderfully happy life…
filled with huge moments like you’ve never seen….
while never forgetting to enjoy…
all the little moment in between.