My Place

I know where I want my final resting place to be.

I don't mean to start out on a morbid note, because to me, it brings me a lot of peace knowing exactly where I want to "return to to dust"

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.

Genesis 3:19

My place is one that is full of life, memories, the echo of past footprints, a wooden swing, faded paint from years of sun, and the knowledge that if you keep your feet on the floor, you'll know someone is approaching by the vibration of the wooden planks.

July 4, 2010

My family knows this place as "The Sit.tum" -- our slang for the dock that sits off the family beach house where we sit 'em down. Our rears, that is :) I think each of my family members agrees that this is the most peaceful spot on the planet to us. And we each love it for the individual memories we have. 

You know the saying, "If these walls could talk..." Just modify that a bit : "If these boards could talk"

They are still the original wooden planks that were used to build the dock 29 years ago. So they've "felt" all sorts of memories.

Eating breakfast with my cousin as the sun came up, devouring watermelon and seeing who could spit the seeds the furthest into the marsh, countless sunsets, watching military helicopters prepare for Desert Storm, late night star gazing with my soon-to-be-husband, watching fireworks with my grandparents, standing in the sun and shouting into the wind, "I want to be a Mom!", prayers that the miracle growing in my belly would hang on through a bleeding scare, my sister's wedding, and most recently having that not-so-little miracle sitting on the swing with me--holding my hand, and sitting still as we enjoyed some precious mother-son time. 

 

So you can get a glimpse to why this is My Place...so many meaningful life moments, that it has always been easy for me to think of it as a final place. So tell me--am I the only "dark and twisty" one? I even know what song I'd like played at my funeral (Seat Ne.xt To You, Bon Jo.vi)  

I do think this has been on my mind more recently, just for the fact that my family just celebrated my grandfather's 90th birthday. Spending time with him last week was so special--and I realize how lucky I am that all four of my grandparents are still living. I haven't known a summer at My Place without my grandparents being there...

I spent time last week repainting parts of the dock that I had stenciled with palm trees and waves when I was 10...twenty years of sunshine had made the paint fade quite a bit. But I did leave one section in its original form...just as a reminder to all who visit that My Place is welcoming of all things past, present and future....