"Time is the longest distance between two places." ~Tennessee Williams
When I was growing up, I spent many season at my Grandparent's home. It was a place of comfort, and a place that held some of the most treasured memories of my childhood. Each room echoed of wonder and was a big adventure that filled my days.
As time passed my visits became less frequent with the busyness that life provides as we get older. Growing up has it's rewards and it's losses. Years later after my Grandparents had passed away, I returned once again to that familiar place to my heart. Walking into it's threshold I was amazed at how much different things appeared. What once seemed so big, now looked so much smaller in my eyes. The home was still near and dear to me, but my perception of it's size had completely changed. It was a place that I learned so many lessons about life, love, and wisdom. Grandparents hold a wealth of knowledge and history that they gladly share with those they love. What they had given me was greater than could be measured by this world. My horizons were broadened more within those walls, than any other home that I lived in growing up. What I learned I have carried with me like a suitecase on a journey to other lands. It has always been within my arms, but time has changed my strength to hold it close. Experience has a way of changing how we view the world. The big picture becomes more clear. I think this can be true in so many areas of our lives. The more life we live, the more we fall and get back up, the better we are at dealing with troubles we may face along the way. It is a hopeful journey. One that grows bigger with insight and substance as we move forward. No matter how big problems can seem in our past, there is a future of hope that can make those trials appear smaller. Sometimes being in the midst of the storm can make it hard to see clearly. Once we have the quiet to reflect and look back, we can see with clarity that in the big picture those huge problems were just a small stumbling block along the way. Just something to prepare us not just for today, but for tomorrow as well.
Linking with Poetry Jam
LOVE this, the picture and the verse. It evoked so many memories. Yes, our perception does change
ReplyDeleteas we grow/age, but not the flavor. It continues to be rich and dear.
i think our stumbling blocks do prepare us for what is to come...i was wrapping myself warm in the memories of my own grandparents house...
ReplyDeleteCarrie, thank you for taking part in Poetry Jam. I am trying to 'grow' the site. I loved your write. My last grandparent (a grandmother) died when I was 6, so grandparent memories are greatly lacking; but I am trying to be a grandmmother to my grandchildren like your grandparents were to you, so that they will carry me with them like a suitcase as well. I want them to always have a way to hold ME close, close as I feel to them today.....knowing it won't always be so.
ReplyDeleteTime may have changed your strength to hold it close but you write of it beautifully. You said in your comment at Poetry Jam that you had a hard time with this but it doesn't show.
ReplyDeleteI too had the perception change in what once seemed so big, now seemed so small, when I made a visit to my hometown some thirty years after having left it.
I like the Williams quote and you even snuck in the Hardy Boys! You made me time travel. :)
Wonderful write.
ReplyDeleteMelanie
Love this. I miss my grandparents as well. When I went back to my childhood home, things seemed so different and smaller. I remember standing at the steps and just crying to see it again. A beautiful write.
ReplyDeleteVery meaningful piece. I like seeing where each person goes with my prompt. Reading each person's piece gives me my own thoughts as well. I love the relationship you remember having with your grandparents. How lucky you are! I knew my one grandmother pretty well, but not in the way you describe. I wish I you be one of those warm fuzzy grandmothers to my grandson--but it is hard with him living far away. I am probably a kind of mystery, a voice on the phone, and source of postcards and occasional boxes in the mail. We each do what we can I guess. Oh and I too like the Williams quote!
ReplyDeleteThese are words of wisdom and clarity, Carrie, Words that support what I am try to find in my own life
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it
D.
It is amazing how much we share in our past.I too found comfort and a love for reading and history when I stayed with my grandparents for two years.
ReplyDeleteA toast to our memories. For without them, what are we?
Dear Carrie, send me an email at ninotaziz@gmail.com . I have something for you.
My horizons were broadened more within those walls
ReplyDeleteOne cannot say that for all grandparents. This was a sweet read.