Mother, Father Memories
- Details
- Category: Lifestyle/People
- Published: Saturday, 11 May 2013 19:09
- Written by Lawrence A. Robinson
My sister is very active in church and is usually the lead in special activities and events. She thought it very strange that she is helping with the mother's day program at her church, but really had not done much for her own mom who transitioned 29 years ago. She decided that if our parents could raise six children, love them, fight with them and for them and get them all through college and give them all a good start in life, then six children should show appreciation.
So she decided that we should all meet together and visit our parents grave site to celebrate our parents success in the raising of their children.
So the weekend before Mother's Day, we all met in Tampa at my youngest brother's house. My second oldest brother lives in Japan so obviously he couldn't make it. My oldest brother, who lives in Tampa had other obligation and could not make the gathering. So, it was just four of us, my sister, two brothers and myself.
We met at my youngest brothers home, where he had prepared snacks for us and we talked about our family for about an hour. We talked about some of the exciting and very dull things that occurred during our childhood and we talked about the things that are going on in our lives now.
We went to the old home site where many years ago we grew up. Our home was demolished after we moved out. My family was the first and last family to live in that house. Most of the houses on our street and even the entire block are gone. As the four of us stood on the spot that at one time was our entire world, the memories just flooded back like the tide coming in.
The Chinese Plum tree that we planted when I was about 8 or 9 years old was still there. We all touched it, I don't know why. The large pecan tree that was on the side of the house is gone and so is the large lemon tree and mango tree. The mulberry tree is still there. We stood on the ground where my parents bedroom was and where each or our bedrooms would have been, if this was 50 years ago. However, it is not 50 years ago, and there is nothing here but open field. We realized that all we have are our memories, so we cherished them and shared them.
As we stood there talking, my sister, two brothers and me, a neighbor a block away saw us and came walking across the now open field where years ago, 15 houses stood. His hair was all white and he had a trimmed white beard and mustache As he got closer, he recognized us and called us all by our childhood names.
We hugged and talked for awhile longer. We talked about our childhood friends who had transition. We talked about the neighborhood changing in ways we had never even thought about. We talked about things long past. Our parents came into the conversation many times.
We left the home site and drove around the old neighborhood. We visited the site where the old elementary school once stood, and the church that bared my grandfather's name on the cornerstone. We went by old friends homes that we hadn't seen for many years. Then we left the old neighborhood and went to our parents grave site. We put flowers on our parents grave, said a word, then we went back to my youngest brother home.
What a very emotional day that was. It was very pleasant talking to my first friends in life, my brothers and my sister. This is how it was when we were children, just us, playing and making our own fun. We promised to add this day, which we will call 'Parents Day' to our gathering times. We get together several times a year for other events but this would be a siblings event. We will get together in family love and talk about our parents and worship their memories because that is all that we have.