Many Yards

Many Yards

My childhood was an idyllic one, not because we had lots of money and things, we certainly did not, but because it was filled with love. We had our problems and our share of grief, pain, and sorrow, just like everyone else, but us kids remembered only the good times. We had wonderful times in our yard. Our yard was filled with boats, big boats, small boats, fast boats, slow boats. Every kind of boat you could imagine. And we loved to play on and in the boats and on the trailers that pulled them. Our dad built, worked on, and raced boats. He even set a National speed record….fastest man on water…101.69 mph…it’s still a pretty impressive record, although, it has long since been beaten. Summers in my yard as a child were great! Who else had boats to play in? We pretended to drive them and then jump out into the water and swim. Yes, my childhood yard is one I recall with fondness.

As a child, I only remember living in one house, a little white single wide mobile home located at Rt. 2, Box 425, Murphy, NC 28906. I lived there for 17 years. We moved there when I was only 2 years old and I left when I married at age 19. As an adult, I have had 19 addresses. Some of those are more memorable than others. One home in which I have beautiful memories of is the second home we ever bought. It was a brick house with beautiful landscaping, mature, as the realtor calls it. It was a three bedroom, 2 bath home in a lovely neighborhood on a quiet street. It was right on the corner of Julia Lane and Pebble Creek in Toccoa, Georgia. Our children were 9 and 13. I loved watching them play from the kitchen window. We had a huge deck that was so inviting on cool spring mornings. It was a coffee drinking deck, for sure. Many plans were made on that deck. My husband and I loved to rock and talk on that deck until long after the sun had set. Not all the plans that were discussed were fulfilled, but memories were made, nevertheless.

Each home, each address, and indeed, each yard, has many stories to tell. Each unique and each one is just as special as the other. The home we now live in has its own stories. Our boys are nearly grown and so this house will witness memories of a different kind. They will include others, not just our family of four. Our boys are bringing home girls and making memories of dating, dinners, class rings, football games and things that either don’t include their father and me or include the four of us and then some. This house has witnessed the first born leaving the nest and flying off to start making memories of his own. This house is the first home that the yard really wasn’t used much at all. This yard hasn’t seen the forts being built or the trees being climbed. This yard, with it’s grown up mess in the back, doesn’t have the trails worn through it or holes leading to China. Yes, this home will hopefully see graduations, weddings and even grandchildren. The walls of this home will tell the whole story, from little boys to grown men. The cycle will then begin again with them, but as for us, I hope to make many more plans with my husband and see many more dreams fulfilled.

As I look back on these three “yards,” the thing that strikes me most about all of them is….how different each one is, yet how much they are the same. They are all stories of plans, dreams and memories…and of family.