...7.10.11...

photos of the yard in bloom...

excerpts from an essay i found...

Grandpa’s Smile

               " A smile is worth a thousand words. My Grandpa’s is one in a million. My mother always told me I received my beautiful smile from him. Standing side by side with him, you can tell that it’s been passed down like an old heirloom.  I was young, and he was younger, and times were different. Those were the days that I could sit on his lap and fall asleep, go for a ride on the tractor, or sit and drink coffee on the porch with him. Of course as a kid, living in different cities made it harder to see my grandparents often, but every visit was filled with laughter, stories, and coffee. Always coffee. As I grew older, our relationship got stronger and I figured we would be inseparable.  There would always be coffee on the porch with Grandma and Grandpa."

"Going to grandma’s as a kid can either be really boring or amazing. In this case, it was amazing. I grew up in the city where you don’t really have a lot of freedom, so being able to go to grandma’s in the boondocks where you could run around and play for hours was my own personal heaven. Her yard was a giant play scape just waiting to be played upon. When I grew tiresome of the yard, I could go sit on grandpa’s lap-even if only for 23 seconds-and listen to what the grownups were gossiping about. I didn’t really care much then because there were too many trees to climb and bugs to find. I miss the simplicity that came with those days. I didn’t need to know about the worries of the world because right there, in that little piece of heaven, was my world. I would give anything to have those days again. "

"The older I got, the less time I spent in the yard and the more time I spent on the porch.  More time on the porch meant I heard about the worries of the world, and the more I could relate to them.  Activities with my grandparents became helping them with work, and listening to their troubles for that day. It didn’t feel like things changed, it just felt like I was growing up. There was still coffee and I was now actually involved in the coffee conversation. Even though I was older, it was still the greatest thing in the world to visit grandma and grandpa and listen. "

"...I don’t know how to bring the smile back to my grandpa’s face. All I know is that I hope we can find some forgiveness before all of us regret what we’ve done. Maybe if we all were more like children, not so filled with the concerns of the world, we wouldn’t be in this mess."

               " ...My hair was in a casual disarray, probably formed by the wind, and my Grandpa was in his typical work attire; His old t-shirt and trucker hat with a coffee mug in his right hand and my shoulder in the other. I only stood up to his hips, and I had my favorite stuffed animal (for that week) in my hands.  The moment seemed insignificant then. I didn’t know how big the little things could be. No one does, until it’s too late."

"Standing there in the doorway that day, I had no clue."

~anonymous

wow.

don't think that

the actions of adults...

don't effect the children.

what a reflection

to ponder today.

welcome to coffee hour.

welcome to this Sunday morning.

just BE.

robin.