A Worthwhile Scene

I have worked hard during my life time. I have put in long hours, been responsible for large organizations and projects. I have not gotten rich, but in the scheme of things would be considered fairly well off. From time to time I think about the effort and what makes that effort worthwhile. Well, yesterday a scene brought home the lesson of worth again.

I was mowing the grass at our home in Arkansas. Terry and I have worked quite hard keeping our property looking clean and neat. As I was in the section of the lawn on the east side Terry and her beloved Grandson Sam strolled down to the garden where we've planted some blueberry bushes. The bushes are new this year, but had some berries on them when we purchased the plants in the spring. We've enjoyed some berries in our breakfast cereal over the past few weeks. Sam and Terry stopped and pick a small plate they had brought with them and had a few blueberries on the plate. Then as I kept on mowing, they strolled across the yard to the black berry stand and proceeded to harvest perhaps a pint of fresh black berries. All the while talking and carrying on some conversation that takes place between grand parent and grand son.

As I watched the scene unfold in front of me I thought about the hard work I've done and the effort we make and this is just another example of why we do that. The scene of Terry, obviously enjoying her grandson's company and strolling about our property picking blue berries and black berries will join those events that occur from time to time that remind me that our effort is worthwhile.

Marching Through Time

For our family the end of an era occurred recently. My Uncle Hollis passed away. He died in a manner I guess we all wish for, he laid down to take a nap and slipped away. He was in his early 90's. He had lived an active work filled life. He owned and managed rental property around Traverse City, MI, ran paper routes, worked as a handyman, just about anything to provide for his family.

Hollis was my mother's brother-in-law, and as much a part of the larger family as anyone. He was quite a bit younger than my parents, but lived in there generation as a young boy. He knew both my parents when he was a little boy and could tell us stories of the early history of my parents.

Now, there are no more of that generation. My parents are dead, their brothers and sisters are dead, and their extended spouses are dead. There is no one left of the original generation. A new line of older family members take that senior place. Of that number, I believe there are 15 offspring from the first generation, about 11 are left. The oldest members are in my direct family, then the age drops off somewhat. But it seems to me it is like a line of soldiers marching through life, as we grow older we take our places in the front line and eventually are eliminated. Then the next group and so on. Kind of chilling, but that's life. Life is a terminal condition, we will not survive it. So, I resolve to make good use of the time I have left. I resolve to stay in contact with my family members, to share the joys of our time together, to listen to their fears, and to reassure that in the good graces of life we number well.

A Memory Revisited

The light fixture in our hallway went kaput. I decided to replace it with a track light so we could have illumination from the washer/dryer and up the stairs. Living in Arkansas I do not have much of an opportunity to watch my beloved Green Bay Packers, but from time to time they are televised nationally on Fox and I can see them then. I started to wonder this morning if that might be the case. Checking the online TV guide sure enough, they played Carolina and were on Fox. So I turned the game on and enjoyed working on the project while keeping track of the game. It made me think of a time long ago.

Our family lived in Sturtevant, WI from 1975 to 1980. We lived in a "starter" home. My Dad had not remarried and it must've been around 1975. It was the fall of the year and Dad had come down for a visit. We had gone to church and now were at home doing some fall chores, cleaning windows, raking leaves, etc. We had the Packer game on TV and a radio sticking out a window so we could hear the game while we worked outside. If something exciting happened during the game we would rush back into the living room to see the replay. A couple of times my father and I had to laugh because we would meet rushing into the living room Dad coming from the front door and me coming through the kitchen.

Today I was in the back hallway when Favre threw for a touchdown. Rushing back in to see the replay made me think of my Dad. I miss watching Green Bay play with my Dad.