Thoughts

These last few weeks have been filled with the joy and happiness that comes of a lifetime of living as our family began preparations for the forth coming holiday season. 

This year, L.W. and I were blessed by spending Thanksgiving Day with our daughter, Alesia, and her husband, Dan Talbot.  Their three children, Caleb, Nellie and Anna, were all able to be home for the holiday.  Joining them was Brian Pughe who will officially become a member of their family on May the 20^th when he and our eldest granddaughter, Nellie Talbot, are married.

Our eldest daughter, Whitney, shortly arrived from Salem with her husband, Todd Leeson, and their two children, Morgan and Jake. This year, Morgan’s friend, Alex Brown, was able to come along with her to share in our family’s celebration. 

             

It was such a blessing to be able to see the love and affection our grandchildren have for one another as they joked and shared the things going on in their own lives. You see, we no longer have toddlers or even small children in our midst.  All six of our grandchildren are now grown.

 

As we sat together and I looked around the dining room table, I could not help but recall the many small things, which seemed very trivial at the time they occurred, but which, when combined, were the building blocks of our family. 

When L.W. and I were first married, fifty plus years ago, we basically knew that we both wanted to live our lives together in the Elkton area.  We both knew that we wanted a family of our own and most importantly, we both positively knew that we wanted God as an integral part of that family.

 

During the years that followed, we were blessed with our four daughters, who like all children, were, at times, both a trial and temptation.   We both felt strongly that we could not spoil them as it was necessary for them to live in the real world.  Teaching all four girls to read and write before they entered school was largely a matter of self-preservation for me. 

As Whitney learned to read she loved sharing her new found knowledge with her sisters.  Of course, we carefully selected books that opened the doors of their minds to imagination and to things which would challenge them in the exploration of various aspects of the learning process.  To aid in this goal, art supplies were always available.

 

One time this sort of back fired on me.  Dr. Burtner, the girl’s pediatrician, carefully explained to me that Whitney simply must be made to take naps.  You see, she walked at the age of seven months and was constantly a little fireball of energy from that moment on.  My grandmother told me to leave the child alone as she was simply learning by absorbing the world around her.  But, being young and inexperienced, I did my best to listen to her doctor who was himself, the father of seven.  As instructed, I put Whitney’s crayons away and removed the toys from her room.  I carefully explained to her that it was necessary for her to stay on her bed and rest for one hour.

 Well, I am here to tell you this was the longest hour of my life as I quietly listened outside her door.  Once I thought that I had heard something moving about but as I had been instructed not to open her door until the hour was up, I ignored the minor noise in hopes that her doctor was correct and she was taking a nap.

 

Well, when I opened that door, I found my child behind it.  She just stood there beaming with both hands stuffed full of crayons. No artist could ever have been more proud of any creation.  By rolling her dresser nearer to her bed, Whitney had discovered that she could open the drawers like stair steps and that she could then climb almost to the top of the ceiling. She had quite happily colored every single wall in that room.  She had not miss a single one.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as I picked her up and hugged her to me. 

She was absolutely delighted with her accomplishment and I, well, I was so horrified and stunned by what was possible for a child not quite one of year of age to accomplish that I, then and there, decided that my grandmother was correct and that I not only needed to, but must always keep her with me as she explored her surroundings.

Foolishly, I thought that telling her doctor that I had failed would be the most difficult part of this episode, but I was dead wrong.  You see, at that time, crayons were made of wax and pure pigment. Getting the colors off of the wall meant that I literally had to tape sheets of paper onto the wall and then iron them, section by section, in order to remove the wax before the walls could be primed and repainted.

Believe me, this time around, I made sure that Whitney Ann was not only in the room with me but that she was busy doing something constructive. She found pleasure in retelling me stories that I had read to her as she sat on the floor happily eating her freshly quartered apple.

Now, as I look around the table at her two children, I cannot help but remember the many phone calls we have shared as she recounted their many adventures.

My grandmother also said that we each should be careful as “life has a way of paying you back when you least expected it.” But perhaps Galatians 6:7 states it best when it warns us, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”