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I was one of the lucky grand kids growing up. My brother and I spent the summers and a lot of our weekends with grandma and grandpa. Of course years passed and my brother and I grew up, then I moved away.
After several years I returned to my little hometown. I took one Saturday in late summer to go and visit with grandma and grandpa who were getting on up in years. The old home place was located back in the woods off of the main highway. Not much had changed, the hardwoods still clung to the side of the old gravel road. The dark rich delta soil still provided healthy fields of cotton, beans, and corn.
I continued on the winding dirt road headed farther into the woods, then I came to the old mailbox that was still nailed to the side of a large elm tree. I was finely there, I could see grandpa out in the front yard at the end of the road, where the little house with a screened in porch sat. Bigger than life was grandpa tending to his roses, he loved roses. He seemed a little more frail that I remembered as a kid. He had a little shuffle in his walk now but still wore his overhauls with a red handkerchief hanging out of the back pocket, white shirt and a grey short brimmed hat.
As I drove up he started to wave and had a smile on his face that was ear to ear. You could see the joy that beat in the little mans heart. I opened the door and the first words out of his mouth were "Come here sugar dumpy and give grandpa some sugie". I remember that was his favorite line to use on us grand kids as he would take his chin, with day old scruffy whiskers and leave red marks on our cheeks. I embraced my grandpa with arms that were now grown and could reach around him. Then I followed up with a handshake.
He invited me in and said that grandma was making a big evening meal and was looking so forward to seeing me. She had all of the country fixings just as I remembered as a kid, fresh tomatoes, corn on the cob, beans and potatoes, gravy and fresh fried chicken that she taken from the back yard earlier that day. she also had fresh made yeast rolls that would melt in your mouth. For dessert we had peach cobbler, and homemade ice cream.
I was so stuffed after supper I could barley move, grandma, grandpa and I had a great time looking at old pictures and talking about old times; but it was about time for me to start back to town. Just then grandpa said "Son lets take a trip down to the old fishing pond, on the back twenty. I have fixed it up real nice, I planted some peach tree, apple trees and cherry trees down there to give shade and put off fruit. I also took the Ford N9 and leveled around the edges and put a couple of horseshoe pits in. There is picnic table and chairs around the pond now so that we can hold our family reunions there and the kids can fish and swim."
It was getting late but I agreed to go see the old pond with him. He grabbed his hat and gave gramma a kiss on the check as we walked out the door. We had just started down the trail when he turned and said "Wait let me get a five gallon bucket and we will pick you some apples and peaches to take home with you."
With bucket in hand we head down to the pond as we started up the hill grampa stopped and told me to be quiet and we listened for a bit. We could here voices, giggles and laughing coming from the other side of the hill. We started back up the hill as the commotion got louder and as we topped the hill, down in the pond was six or seven young women in their twenties skinny dipping and having a grand old time.
My grandfather made our presence know and when he did those young ladies headed to the deep end of the pond. One of the girls yelled at us that they were not coming out of the water because their clothes were on the bank and they had no swim suites.
My grandfather didn't miss a beat he said "Now ladies me and the boy didn't come down here to tell you all to get out of my pond. We didn't come down here to spy on you skinny dipping." He just held that five gallon bucket up and said. "ME AND THE BOY JUST COME DOWN TO FEED OUR PET ALLIGATOR!"
God I love my Grandpa.
After several years I returned to my little hometown. I took one Saturday in late summer to go and visit with grandma and grandpa who were getting on up in years. The old home place was located back in the woods off of the main highway. Not much had changed, the hardwoods still clung to the side of the old gravel road. The dark rich delta soil still provided healthy fields of cotton, beans, and corn.
I continued on the winding dirt road headed farther into the woods, then I came to the old mailbox that was still nailed to the side of a large elm tree. I was finely there, I could see grandpa out in the front yard at the end of the road, where the little house with a screened in porch sat. Bigger than life was grandpa tending to his roses, he loved roses. He seemed a little more frail that I remembered as a kid. He had a little shuffle in his walk now but still wore his overhauls with a red handkerchief hanging out of the back pocket, white shirt and a grey short brimmed hat.
As I drove up he started to wave and had a smile on his face that was ear to ear. You could see the joy that beat in the little mans heart. I opened the door and the first words out of his mouth were "Come here sugar dumpy and give grandpa some sugie". I remember that was his favorite line to use on us grand kids as he would take his chin, with day old scruffy whiskers and leave red marks on our cheeks. I embraced my grandpa with arms that were now grown and could reach around him. Then I followed up with a handshake.
He invited me in and said that grandma was making a big evening meal and was looking so forward to seeing me. She had all of the country fixings just as I remembered as a kid, fresh tomatoes, corn on the cob, beans and potatoes, gravy and fresh fried chicken that she taken from the back yard earlier that day. she also had fresh made yeast rolls that would melt in your mouth. For dessert we had peach cobbler, and homemade ice cream.
I was so stuffed after supper I could barley move, grandma, grandpa and I had a great time looking at old pictures and talking about old times; but it was about time for me to start back to town. Just then grandpa said "Son lets take a trip down to the old fishing pond, on the back twenty. I have fixed it up real nice, I planted some peach tree, apple trees and cherry trees down there to give shade and put off fruit. I also took the Ford N9 and leveled around the edges and put a couple of horseshoe pits in. There is picnic table and chairs around the pond now so that we can hold our family reunions there and the kids can fish and swim."
It was getting late but I agreed to go see the old pond with him. He grabbed his hat and gave gramma a kiss on the check as we walked out the door. We had just started down the trail when he turned and said "Wait let me get a five gallon bucket and we will pick you some apples and peaches to take home with you."
With bucket in hand we head down to the pond as we started up the hill grampa stopped and told me to be quiet and we listened for a bit. We could here voices, giggles and laughing coming from the other side of the hill. We started back up the hill as the commotion got louder and as we topped the hill, down in the pond was six or seven young women in their twenties skinny dipping and having a grand old time.
My grandfather made our presence know and when he did those young ladies headed to the deep end of the pond. One of the girls yelled at us that they were not coming out of the water because their clothes were on the bank and they had no swim suites.
My grandfather didn't miss a beat he said "Now ladies me and the boy didn't come down here to tell you all to get out of my pond. We didn't come down here to spy on you skinny dipping." He just held that five gallon bucket up and said. "ME AND THE BOY JUST COME DOWN TO FEED OUR PET ALLIGATOR!"
God I love my Grandpa.
