Hudson and Emma
My sister Linda drove up from Tulsa with her two kids while Emma and I were at my dad's, so Emma had two more cousins to play with!
This was the first time I was really able to explain to Emma what the limestone rocks represented and why they were placed where they were. She knows Grandma Evelyn in a different way than she knows Grandma Marcy. She asked questions about her grandma in Heaven. I hope I can share more with her every time we visit my childhood home. I remember thinking it was going to be odd for me not to be able to visit a cemetery and remember mom. Now I can't imagine having to go to one.
I think every single member of my family remembers the 10-mile drive to the Baptist church in Goodland every Sunday when we were growing up. My dad would tear around the Y just a half-mile north of our house and we'd be on the dirt road for about five miles (praying to God that we'd make it to church alive) before hitting the pavement for the final five miles. I'm not even sure we were always late; my dad just liked to be King of the Road, even if it meant ramming our heads into the windows as he tore around the curve. Anyway, along that dirt road was an old barbed-wire fence. For whatever reason, the wooden posts were covered with all sorts of shoes. Boots and tennis shoes mostly.
I never knew the story behind the shoes on the posts. I still don't. I just know it's a part of my childhood. A part that makes me smile. . . and reminisce about my head slamming against the '77 Ford windows.
I wish I could say this house was a part of my childhood, too, but I don't really remember it. My brother David took me there and told me a few stories about it when I was home. The house is about two miles north of where I grew up. I think some ancient relatives lived there. Next time I'm home, it'll be a house to explore with Kevin. Maybe I'll learn more about it too;)
