the last couple of days the weather has made me think of summers as a child---the minute the warm breeze hits my face, it brings me back to a vivid almost painful longing---a sense of what summer represented to me----
i see my mother starting the hot car to take us on the weekly grocery trip----i was just sharing with one of my granddaughters the other day, one of these precious memories---
as we ate lunch after the recent movie trip---she sat next to me--she carefully noticed the tiny stuffed animal she had purchased from the movie house's vending machines----i suggested she name him or her rio--after the movie we had all just seen---
i told her how when i was about her age---my mom would let me spend all the pennies i could find---some i had saved and some she had donated to my stash---i would then excitedly enter those coins into the six vending machines---eagerly awaiting the treasure i would take home----to this day i get a little thrill as that coin turns
the summers of my childhood really didn't have that much going on---unlike most of my friends, we didn't belong to a pool ---although we would occasionally go to a public man made lake----to tell the truth those outings filled me with great anxiety as i pretended to love the water while secretly and with much shame couldn't wait to go home----
we did take a trip each year to the outer banks ---my dad would leave his business in the hands of his employees for three days---we would depart on a thursday and return on a Sunday----i recall with great fondness how my father would make us get up that last vacation day, dress in our church clothes and sit through the long service---my sunburned back would stick against those hard pews in the tiny wooden un-airconditioned church-
and today as it isn't even summer yet--i hold on to all those sweet visions of a simpler time and place in my past---and i trust that the days ahead will continue to call me back
You put so much heart in your posts. I grew up on a farm, so summers were a lot of hard work and no vacations but I loved them. Wish it would warm up here,
ReplyDeleteoh i hope i does warm up your way---today is gonna hit 90 but the weekend is suppose to be in the mid 70's---thank you susan for the nice compliment!
ReplyDeleteI remember those summers, too. My mom sought out and took us to little churches all over this country--with sunburned backs!
ReplyDeletehaha yeah --good times--i think some of my dad refusing to skip a sunday was the pins that he had dangling from his suit coat for not missing a sunday all year :)
ReplyDeleteThe root of 'nostalgia' actually contains the word for ache, pain. Tender, tender post, Lynn.
ReplyDeletei did not know that suze--that's very interesting---thank you :)
DeleteWe never had a car when I was a boy in Scotland, it was the bus or train everywhere. Outdoor rivers and lochs were where we used to learn to swim. Occasionally dangerous though, I remember a cousin losing his best pal in a reservoir drowning.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the youngsters of today have more at their disposal I think they're missing the freedom that I used to have. OK the world is still a wicked place, but as a boy exploring and climbing hills and monuments, life was as good as it got.
awww very sad about your cousin's friend---we have a part of the river where kids swam each season and almost every season someone we knew of drowned---i have always been scared of the water--maybe because they say i was found in a pool when i was two years old--floating face down----i too loved the outdoors and spent hours in the woods and down by the creek--and many happy times just swinging in the backyard---it was a pretty good life---great memories huh :)
DeleteWe always think fondly back on those years, but during those years we just wanted to grow up so we could drive and do what we wanted!
ReplyDeletehmmm maybe somewhat true---probably would be even truer if it were then now :)
DeleteAh the summers of childhood. Most of my memories of childhood summers involve me spending all day in the woods lol. Good times.
ReplyDeleteyes and the smells---intoxicating!
DeleteWhat a great story. The older I get the more flashbacks I have of childhood. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteso true for me too teresa---more and more as i enter my later years haha--thank you :)
DeleteThere's nothing quite so sweet as memory. What a different world it was only a few years ago, eh? And yet somethings never change. My son has started into the coin machine crazy, and it's so fun to watch him dash for his quarters before we head out the door. Brings a smile every time.
ReplyDeletei am glad those vending machines have stayed the test of time :)
DeleteIt's the memories and the real moments that make up our lives. Summer memories are some of my favorites, too.
ReplyDeleteyeah they are warm ones huh :)
DeleteThat was beautiful! I believe God gives us memories to hold us until heaven. Well the good ones anyways!
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely thought! thanks teresa :)
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