Memories from Granddaddy's House
For years I've kept these journals I'm in my 4th one now, I've kept them for 8 years. Tonight, my mom told Kelsey and I to write some memories that we remember from granddaddy's house. I thought I would share this with you in honor of the situation. It's for the loved ones and just a beginning for the memories.
2/1/13
-My grandaddy is getting old in honor of that my mom told Kelsey and I to write down some of our fondest memories of my grandaddy and Mary. We are to tell some about just being around them.
To be honest I'm not sure how much longer my grandaddy (Walter) will be around.
I am 16... here I go... some of my best memories:
1- There was this one time Mary had gotten this old Nintendo gaming system from Trade Day. We would play things like Mario, Pac-man, and Galactica old games like that.She had bought at least three full boxes of these old games. They inserted in the top of the machine and were about half the size of a cassette tape. I still remember when they took a small TV and put it in the kitchen. Mary, Destinee and I would sit around and play the games and eat snacks. Kelsey would play too when she got old enough. They eventually got rid of it. I think they got the use out of it. Good memory though.
2- Trade Day- Boiling hot sun, ice water bottles, and a bunch of old stuff. Grandaddy liked it. I couldn't stand it at the time. Waking up on a Saturday morning and getting sweaty. After a while I got used to it. I remember every now and then he would buy us something. Trade day out in Hokes Bluff.
3- Driving in the truck with grandaddy- No other country experience like it. There was this one time where I had to stay over at their house for three nights. They were to take me to school and everything. They aren't to big on driving places. This period of time was around Halloween I remember being in the back of the car (possibly a truck). Grandad driving. Desy and I put in these fake glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth we pretended to scare the guy behind us. The guy in the car behind us played right back, laughed, and made a face. We all laughed.
4-Destinee Renee` Skipper- My best buddy and literally like my second sister. I could come up with so many wonderful things about this girl and she is MOST DEFINITELY one of my fondest and BEST memories. She's not just a memory either still is my home girl I love her! She is 14 at this time and still we are as "thick as thieves" one might say... or really close. Kelsey and she are close too, she is the perfect age to play with both of us.
5- Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies- We would make them all the time. I taught Desy how to make them and I also taught her how to make homemade hot cocoa. One winter grandaddy was asleep and Mary was in the back of the house it was just Desy and I. It was cold that day, we sat around and sipped hot chocolate, read, and sat by the heater. (I was in the middle of one of the Percy Jackson books at the time).
6- Reading Bible- I have a tendency to read the Bible out loud. When I do this I feel as though I'm reading to God and his angels in heaven. I feel like nothing in the world can stop me or harm me. I was reading aloud at their house. Everything seemed to click at this point this was where things came together. I remember being in the sitting room next to the kitchen. When she finished cleaning she came and sat next to me as I read. There were several things that day that were personal and that made that day special and all I can say is that it was special. She listened as I read and read I don't remember how much. I would stop ever so often to see if she wanted me to stop. She would say, "I don't care", but I knew she enjoyed it so I would read on. Ever since then things haven't been as complicated I'm a little bit looser and laid back now than I was. It was and is a God thing a healing thing... something I'll never forget and it's another fond memory.
7- Christmas 2011- The sweetest and most meaningful present I've ever gotten was this Christmas of 2011. I wanted to cry when I saw it I was on the edge of tears. I used to complement granddaddy's button up shirts a lot before he started wearing hospital gowns. I remember they had taken one of the shirts I had complemented him on and wrapped it around a King James Bible. A red letter KJV Bible with golden edges and my name engraved on the front in gold. It was my first official KJV. The shirt is still on a hanger in the my closet and the Bible is in my Bible case, my main Bible. 2011 was the year I began reading to Mary.
8- Later in Life- Beans and Greens- As of a few weeks ago the first of January 2013 I went to a small little restaurant out in Ball Play. Small place, and somewhere I would've never gone on my own or with the choice. It was a delightful place that I remembered was also featured in "The Gadsden Style" magazine. It was quaint and we went there for three weeks in a row for dinner with mom, dad, Kelsey, grandaddy, and Mary. I really began to like it.
One of the biggest delights in the world is seeing someone you love smile. Seeing granddaddy's smile is a treat and a delight. He passed that same joy filled smile down to my mom. It's something you miss when it's gone. Something... a lesson you have to learn the hard way.
It's been 2 weeks since our last visit with them to B&G grandaddy is to weak to get up now. Much less go out anywhere. He is too weak to move, eat, or even function and in too much pain to even smile.
I love my grandaddy and I can't imagine what life without him would be like.
But even then things will be OK.
It's not yet over that I know but, seeing him tonight has taught me many things:
1.) That I have no idea how I will react.
2.) That there is a soul in everyone of us no matter how old, tired, or weak. We are to treat our elders with the uttermost respect and kindness that we can muster and remember that it was not us who made the sacrifice, built, and studied for hours on end. It was them we only build upon the foundations that have been set.
3.) You are no bigger, no greater, no stronger, than anyone else. You are not above anyone. There are many ways of living and living deep country is one of them. It is possible, and probably the smartest way to live. This way of living teaches you to be unreliant and you learn to fend for yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment