Recently, I was helping clean out my grandmother's house. She passed away in 1995 and my uncle was living there until he passed last August. It's been about 16 years since I've spent any time in her house and being there for 3 days of cleaning, brought back a flood of memories. I spent many wonderful days and nights at her house as a child...doing as I pleased, because she let me do anything that wasn't too destructive and a few things that were!! She would let me sew all her washcloths together to make little purses, just for fun; and I suppose, she spent several minutes cutting them apart when I left. I was always welcome to make and create anything in her kitchen and one of the strongest memories is the aroma of her cooking. I miss her and my papa so much and being in their house without them, felt so sad. I found little evidence of my time there, except for a closet door with my autograph, and a box of crayons. The autograph was done with a marks-a-lot permanent marker, from which she saved me from an old-fashioned whoopin' from my mother! The box of crayons had long been forgotten, in a drawer in my papa's dresser. Seeing the crayons brought me back to my childhood immediately. I knew the box had last been touched by me, probably about 35 years ago. Crayola Crayons, in a little box, wrappers still intact. I inspected the crayons for wear and found that the colors I'm most fond of now, were the ones with the most wear. Purple, Green, Blue, and Red...they didn't have fancy names back then. Purple reminding me of family loyalty, and how the days of closeknit families are all but history. Green, reminding me of the once green pastures that surrounded her house and how the cattle would be grazing at dusk. Blue, to remind me of how I'm feeling as I clean out a lifetime of memories, and Red, that reminds me of our love for each other, and how nothing can take that from me! I so wish, I could spruce up that little house and bring it back to life and have my children experience those special times, when granny was in the kitchen and papa was in the yard, but I'll hold those moments, and that place in time, in my heart forever. As this new year begins, let's keep our families close and make special memories to treasure. So, here's to a box of crayons and my granny and papa! God bless us in 2012!
Keep on Dancing!!
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