GRANDPAS PATH

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.