Monday, June 29, 2009

NY Day Two: Two Chairs

It was a hard day. It didn’t start that way.

I went on a bike ride first thing this morning and came across a symbol with such impact that I had to take a picture…



To the average Joe (or June) this would appear to be two chairs overlooking the lake. To me, it represents so much more. All I could think about was the future…Robbie and I thirty years from now sitting in chairs that look just like these ones...overlooking some body of water…talking about the things that matter to us…our kids, grandkids…plain and simple…our family.

Family means something different depending on who you ask. To me, it represents the essence of who I am…the pieces of me that have somehow blended together to create one being. Each piece is dramatically different from the other, but somehow finds a way to connect to the other…That’s family.

My dad blessed me with a passion for life.
My mom taught me to love first and worry about the rest later.
My mom’s mom showed me the power of faith while her dad trained me in the art of story-telling.
My dad’s mom made me the hostess I am while my Grandpa Ike embedded a strength within me that never waivers.
And the intricate connections go on and on and on…each one of them a unique, twisted and beautiful part of me.

So as I spent the day at my grandparents’ farm, I teetered the emotional fence riding somewhere between nostalgia and finality…




how it began and how it will end…



and everything else in between.

The realization as I was wiping the tear from my son’s face, that I would be wiping a similar tear from the cheek of a man who has embodied strength my entire life.

Goodbyes are always hard, but they seem to be harder when they could be the last. I can only hope not.

1 comment:

Karrie said...

What a beautiful post Autumn!