treasured

A few days ago my family and I went to visit my grandparents for Christmas. There used to be a huge family gathering there on the actual day of Christmas with cousins, aunts, and uncles. But over the years as our family has grown larger and my grandparents have grown older the gatherings themselves have grown smaller. It's nice to have more individual time at the farm even if we don't get to see everyone all at once. The festivities of the season are nicely spread out and enjoyed over a few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas which makes it a little less overwhelming for my grandparents. The Farm, our destination, draws me in and makes me want to stay forever. When we reached the bottom of the hill and turned onto the driveway I saw it, like I do every time, my hill. My most favorite spot on the farm. I chose my hill a long time ago. It's beautiful. It's lined with trees on one side and has the creek on the other. This time though it was covered with snow. We drove slowly up the driveway passing my hill and when we reached the creek three beautifully magnificent deer crossed our path, leaped over the pasture fence and followed the creek to the tree line on the other side. How can you not love the farm? I only wish I had treasured it when I was younger like I do now. I guess that's normal, appreciating things more after they have been a part of your life for so long. We didn't visit for a really long time, it was long enough to spend some sweet time together and to devour a big ol' hunk of my grandma's fruitcake. Yes, fruitcake. I love it...and I'm not ashamed to admit it. In fact, I love it so much I might try my hand at a gluten free version. But I digress. The farm was covered in a blanket of snow and so was the tractor. Yes, that old blue one up at the top. I can't even count the number of hours I spent riding on the side while PopPop fed the cows, cut the hay, plowed the fields, or just drove around for purely for my enjoyment. It's a beaut! And you know what? That shade of blue is the same color as PopPop's eyes...bright blue! He's doing quite well still. Yes, his TIA's have affected how fast his thoughts actually come out as words, but he was always a man of few words so it was okay. He is weaker in body but strong in mind. He was having a great day when we were there. He was freshly shaved and smelled so good...old spice and all. His eyes lit up when we came in and he just smiled and focused on my girls a lot. They were shy around him but smiled and giggled which was great for him and my Grandma. Grandma, now she's still quite the pistol with her beautiful silver hair. She's a mere 50 years older than me and a woman of vast knowledge and opinion. She won't sit still for a minute...unless she's crocheting or playing scrabble, otherwise she's on the move.

Today, Sunday, December 13th is PopPop's birthday! He is 89 years old! Happy Birthday!

xo ANG