The hours sailed by much like the white lines, finally pulling our vehicle into the familiar driveway of my grandparent's house is Maryland. They have lived in the same house since I was born. I eyed the front lawn in the darkness, flooding my memory with countless images of my childhood visits. I tossed my bag over my shoulder and walked through the front door, instinctively slipping off my shoes before continuing into the kitchen. The same dolls stared at me through their glass prison on the shelf, showing little enthusiasm at my return. It had been almost two years since I had visited my grandparents, and yet nothing seemed to have skipped a beat. The house was warm, inviting, and most of all..... one of the most familiar places I know. I have moved 6 or so times since my entry into this world.... but their home has been constant. I arrived too late for them to still be up, so after a quick glance into the refrigerator (to satiate my hunger to know if they still carried all the same things they ALWAYS house in their icebox, which they did) I headed down the stairs and camped out on the couch.
The next morning I found my way up the stairs and into the kitchen where my grandfather sat in "his chair" at the table, the crossword puzzle from the daily paper resting half-filled on the table in front of him. My grandmother made her way around the room to hug me, and my grandfather stood to do the same. "Nick-Nack" he laughed as his arms wrapped around me, a name he coined for me when I was a child.
I sat at the table and had a look around the room. Everything was in its place, aside from a few new additions here and there. My grandparents have the amazing ability to add/update little things around their home, and yet still maintain the same exact atmosphere. Change is good....
"Who left the light on downstairs?" my grandmother's voice sounded down the hall.
I stifled a smile.... I love that my grandmother never changes! I poured a glass of sweet tea and leaned back in the chair, taking it all in. The thing I love about my grandparent's house is that it is always the same and always different and you never tire of it. Little ornamental cups and glass vessels carried an array of different candies, a favor my grandfather always made sure was filled before we arrived.
No matter what I did, how I changed or grew physically or mentally, I noticed something. My grandparents always treated me the same..... exact......way. There is nothing I could do to ever make them love me more or treat be any better than they already did....and there is nothing I could ever do to make them love me any less. I will always be welcome in that house, I will always feel invited, always feel comfortable, always feel loved. I felt the familiar Voice prick my conscience, "What would it look like if EVERYONE were like this house?"
"What WOULD that look like?" my thoughts echoed over the next few days.
What would it look like if everyone were warm and inviting, if everyone loved you no matter what and without any agendas, if there were a place of refuge. Its a funny thing about us mortals, we seem to spend our whole lives looking for something solid, something concrete and constant so we can anchor ourselves to it, but look in the wrong...... location....realm? Is that the right word for it? Its like we stand on the shore....then dive underwater and spend the rest of our time looking for a place to breath. From the moment I stepped through the front door till the moment I left, worry couldn't touch me. I spent most of my time "soaking", for those of you who understand what I mean by that. I was in training. I have taken up a position that I place great importance on, I will be leading a group of young men for the summer. Its something I had been praying for, and it fell into my lap, oddly enough, right before I left for Maryland. I knew that plans had been set for this group before the foundations of the earth were laid, all I had to do was put myself in a position to receive these plans.....which I did. I smiled as they were quickened to my mind, admiring the wisdom and creativity their Designer had poured into them. Thumbing through a few scriptures and jotting down a few words in my journal finished up my week.
I sat in the backyard looking over the rolling fields that touched the grass where my grandparent's old fence used to be. I filtered through a myriad of memories before settling on one in particular..... I couldn't have been waist high... and my brother, Zack, half of that. I was pushing Zack in one of those old-school plastic "toddler-swings".....you know what I'm talking about, those red ones with the yellow rope and the yellow, hard plastic, guillotine-style piece that slid down the rope in the front to pinch the skin on your thigh that got in between it and the hole in the seat.....yeah....THAT one. The rest of the family, all the aunts and uncles sat around in the back yard watching us.....those were the good days when my brother and I were the only grandchildren and got spoiled by everyone......I began pushing him back and forth until I got bored. This is when I started having fun....who has fun pushing a swing anyways? I began to spin Zack. Round and round he went, the ropes twisting into one solid mass, slowly twisting until they joined right above his head........"Nick Nick.......Nick Nick...........NICK NIIIII", the last words left his mouth as a TWANG accompanied my fingers as they left the swing's rope, sending my brother into a spinning frenzy. He was calling a different name now.....my attention was diverted and I left my younger brother spinning lazily under the large oak.
"Grandma..........Grandpa...........Aunt Sandy.........somebody heeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeee....." his small voice sung through the backyard as his little arms held tightly onto the rope, straining to pull his head forward which was locked backwards as the force of the spin slung his frame outward.
As the memory faded I smiled broadly. It was one of my favorites. It reminded me of how many times I have found myself spinning out of control when I though I was finally "safe"......yelling "Grandma...........Grandpa........somebody.....anybody......"....and the whole time I'm still right where I need to be, Grandma's Backyard.
