I spent the day with my parents, my daughter, my brother and his two daughters. We went to my grandparent’s farm. They both passed away several years ago but their estate has yet to be settled due to all the medicare red-tape stuff. I’m glad, in a way that it hasn’t settled yet, because a part of me relishes the opportunity to spend time at one of my favorite childhood places, however, it is sad to see the house my grandmother so lovingly cared for, and the land my grandfather worked for so long, deteriorate. It just isn’t the same.
I have such wonderful memories of visiting my grandparents farm, spending time in the summer, being spoiled by my grandmother, riding on the back of the my grandfather’s pickup truck to go feed the cattle. Visiting their place these days though reminds me that those are just memories that I will carry throughout my life; each visit reminding me that those times we shared are long ago treasures of the heart.
Before my grandmother died nine years ago she suffered a massive stroke eleven years earlier, which left her in a wheel chair, with very limited use of her right side and unable to articulate. She managed at times to let us know she was still the same, and at other times left us without a doubt that she was no longer the woman I had grown up knowing.
I am grateful for those memories and the time I get to return to the place they were made. I dread the time I must say good-bye to the farm I dearly loved. But to be perfectly honest, it might bring sweet relief that I will no longer need to be reminded that the place is an empty shell that my grandparents left behind when they departed from this world.
Life us full of complexities that we constantly need to navigate through. Some people, I suppose, choose not to do so, but what purpose does that serve? The events of life still happened, they still affected us to some degree; and the trials are what propel us to move forward, to grow, to reach out beyond ourselves and find purpose.
This sounds heavy, the day we spent, and upon reflection it was, however, the day was also filled with laughter as well, because that’s what my family does. We remember, we reflect, we laugh and we continue to live, grow and love…and laugh some more.
life…just saying