Time

It's funny how a taste or a smell or a sound can trigger a memory.  When I was growing up both my grandmothers lived in Cleburne, TX and I spent almost every weekend with one or the other.  When I look at my childhood it wasn't anything remarkable in and of itself, but it held a lot of magic for me.  Those weekends were always amazing  and mysterious because I knew that if I was with my grandmothers, then something fun was going to happen.

Today I sat down at the computer with a Coke in my hand and as I raised the glass I heard the ice clink and smelled the Coke and felt the whisper of the bubbles and I remembered my Uncle John. He was great Uncle, my granny's brother; a retired Navy man and a sloppy sweet drunk.  He always hung around Granny's house wearing a pair of overalls with a full head of gray hair.  I don't remember much about him except that he would walk with me down the dirt road that Granny's house was on and we would go around the corner and there was this little store.  It was in an odd place; not on a main road, and it didn't even sell gas.  It was more like a little grocery store.  And we would go in there and he would always buy me a Coke or some other soda and it would always be in a glass bottle.  And we would take it home and sometimes Granny would make me a Coke float.  Something about it being at Granny's house made it a novelty and I have never had another ice cream float that tasted better.

That store is closed now.  It's still there, and it's filled with broken furniture and odds and ends.  Every time I drive by there I feel a little nostalgic and sad, but things change all the time. That's life.

I think the most important thing you can do for your kids is to spend time with them.  It doesn't matter if they have a phone, or the pair of shoes that everyone else wants and can't afford, or if they have every video game system known to mankind.  Time is what's important.  Time.  The time my grandmothers gave to me was a gift.  I learned how to cook because they tolerated me looking over their shoulders or peeking over the counter in the kitchen.  I  learned how to sew because they did it in front of me.  I learned how to garden because my Grandma Rose had a huge garden every year and she put me to work in it.  I learned to love roses because she grew them and talked about them all the time. I learned how to serve others because both of them, Granny Boliver and Grandma Rose, were always doing something for someone else and they never complained about it or bragged about it. They just did it.  I learned how to succeed because my mother never gave up on me and always told me I was capable. She taught me to be kind. And she taught me how to laugh and how to appreciate good music.

I am so thankful for the people in my life who give me good memories.