Musings from the Strawberry Patch

This September is proving to be one of the hottest and driest I remember in a long time. Where the Bahamas and East Coast are recovering from Hurricane Dorian we have endured day after day of highs in the upper 90s, and looking at the forecast there's no end in sight, and no rain. Our evenings show a slight hint of being cooler, but for the most part it is just hot.

I mowed Mom's yard for what was quite possibly the last time last weekend. I've always enjoyed "tractor time" because I have a lot of time to think and reflect, which I certainly did knowing that we are going to sell her house soon. Kelly and Kathy Raglin are buying the house from Mom. Since Kathy and Lori Swann are sisters and I have known them all my life, Kelly and Kathy have felt like extended family for years. We are thrilled they are buying it and can't wait to see what happens when Kelly puts his imagination and talents to work.

Getting back to my time on the mower, it was fun to remember all the good times I had growing up there. That yard was a great yard to play in. The only down side is that with all those mature oak trees I was unable to climb any of them. Uncle George had a tree house (basically a flat platform) high up in one tree, but it disappeared shortly after he passed away, probably to remove temptation from a four year old me.

There is one part of the yard that has no trees. We call it the "strawberry patch" even though nothing has been planted in it since I was very little. I was mowing the strawberry patch sixteen years ago when the idea to do the Swann Family News as an email newsletter took shape. If I have done anything well, I have, since 2003, been diligent to record the life and times of our family since. One of the reasons I decided to put this out there to you by email, and put up the blog later, was accountability. I knew that if I didn't have an audience who was demanding to read more, at least in my imagination, this would be short lived. So, thank you for allowing me to use you to hold my feet to the fire on this.

Not only was the yard a great place to be a kid, so was the house. We enjoyed a lot of great times there, many of them around the table from wonderful meals to late night Spades games. Whether summer or winter, the den was one of the favorite places the Freelands and I liked to play when we weren't outside. As we got older it was the setting for many lunchtime video game battles during tobacco cutting season. I remember one year when we missed a lot of school for snow we trooped in, half frozen, from playing outside to find Mom busy making fudge. She had made so much that Brian Freeland commented that the kitchen was like a candy factory. And just about every afternoon I would get off the bus and be greeted with two folded over peanut butter sandwiches and a glass of milk which I would eat sitting on the den floor while watching TV. I am so glad my kids got to build similar memories when they were in elementary school and got off the bus there.

So much has changed. Aunt Mar is in God's presence now. Mom is no longer able to live there. We've emptied out the house. Jenna is on her last semester at Trevecca and Ben has just started his college career. Our family dynamic has changed a lot with just Nate at home. These last few months have given me a lot to think about, which I did while cutting the grass.

Life is a relay. I wish it weren't because I miss so many people. But I have to face that fact. And as special as that house and yard are to me, it will never be the same anymore. The places we live are merely the sets where we live out our lives. The things that we have, special as some of these things are, are merely props to be used in the drama. Sooner or later, we have to hand off. Vicki and I have been immensely blessed to be entrusted with Jenna, Benton, and Nathan. Hopefully we have made the very best use of the resources God has given us to prepare them for the hand off. That was certainly done well for both of us.

Joe