My family and I went to dinner last night with one of the most treasured people of my life. My Aunt Genny is 86 years old now, but you’d never ever know it. Beyond being physically well, she continues to be the model for grace in my life.
My mom was an only child and my father’s family was in Canada, so people from the church were I grew up “adopted” us as their own and we called them aunts and uncles. Aunt Genny, short for Genevieve, was one such person. When I consider what a heart after God's own is like, I have hers as an example. In recent years, she has moved to South Carolina to be near her daughter, but she is here for a brief visit.
After dinner, she wanted to visit another old friend, a man I called Uncle Seth, and so we hopped over to his place unannounced. He was pleased to see us and we learned that he had recently suffered a stroke and was recovering. He was still his funny self though.
When I walked into Uncle Seth’s home, I had an experience that I have had several times in recent years. Have you ever visited a place where you haven’t been since you were a child, only to discover it is far different – smaller, changed – from what you remember? Stepping into Uncle Seth’s kitchen was like being in a time machine in some ways. Even though his wife, Aunt Betty, has died – her drapes and pictures are all the same ones that I remember from childhood. I used to stay with Aunt Betty when I needed to stay home from school because I was sick, and even last night I could picture the couch were she had me rest, her Chihuahua snuggled up with me.
And yet, if you had asked me to draw a picture of the place before I visited, I would have seen something much larger than what is really there. In my mind’s eye, I still see it as a child, and my perspective was much smaller then.
I stood there, thinking it all through, and listened to Aunt Genny and Uncle Seth catch up. One thing I know, using my grown up eyes, is that the influence these people have had on my life is not small at all. As a matter of fact HUGE comes to mind.
Not one of them was educated beyond high school, and Aunt Genny was recalling an assembly line job that she worked for many years. They never had much to show for their efforts – small homes, modest furnishings, practical cars. In some ways, now that they are growing older, the world may not notice their seeming ordinary lives. But what their faithfulness meant to me was nothing short of miraculous.
And here I am, in the middle of the night, wondering if my life reflects the impact they have had on me. I want to be sure their time and effort has come to fruition in my heart and in my person, and being with them has reminded me of what is true, and real, and HUGE.
I don’t want to be a grown up with a still small perspective.
My mom was an only child and my father’s family was in Canada, so people from the church were I grew up “adopted” us as their own and we called them aunts and uncles. Aunt Genny, short for Genevieve, was one such person. When I consider what a heart after God's own is like, I have hers as an example. In recent years, she has moved to South Carolina to be near her daughter, but she is here for a brief visit.
After dinner, she wanted to visit another old friend, a man I called Uncle Seth, and so we hopped over to his place unannounced. He was pleased to see us and we learned that he had recently suffered a stroke and was recovering. He was still his funny self though.
When I walked into Uncle Seth’s home, I had an experience that I have had several times in recent years. Have you ever visited a place where you haven’t been since you were a child, only to discover it is far different – smaller, changed – from what you remember? Stepping into Uncle Seth’s kitchen was like being in a time machine in some ways. Even though his wife, Aunt Betty, has died – her drapes and pictures are all the same ones that I remember from childhood. I used to stay with Aunt Betty when I needed to stay home from school because I was sick, and even last night I could picture the couch were she had me rest, her Chihuahua snuggled up with me.
And yet, if you had asked me to draw a picture of the place before I visited, I would have seen something much larger than what is really there. In my mind’s eye, I still see it as a child, and my perspective was much smaller then.
I stood there, thinking it all through, and listened to Aunt Genny and Uncle Seth catch up. One thing I know, using my grown up eyes, is that the influence these people have had on my life is not small at all. As a matter of fact HUGE comes to mind.
Not one of them was educated beyond high school, and Aunt Genny was recalling an assembly line job that she worked for many years. They never had much to show for their efforts – small homes, modest furnishings, practical cars. In some ways, now that they are growing older, the world may not notice their seeming ordinary lives. But what their faithfulness meant to me was nothing short of miraculous.
And here I am, in the middle of the night, wondering if my life reflects the impact they have had on me. I want to be sure their time and effort has come to fruition in my heart and in my person, and being with them has reminded me of what is true, and real, and HUGE.
I don’t want to be a grown up with a still small perspective.
2 comments:
Hi Wendy
Your blog this morning sent me back to January of this year. Mom moved back to NFLD June 2008 and would be celebrating her 70th birthday Jan 2009. My two brothers and I flew down to surprise her. I hadn't returned to my old stomping grounds in 18 years. Many things had changed. One place we visited was my Aunt Marion's house, where 8 children were raised. It was perched atop a hill at the end of a long laneway overlooking the small community where I grew up. Aunt Marion now lives in a senior's residence but her son bought the home many years ago. When I entered the house from the front porch all the old memories came flooding back. It was like stepping back in time. The cubboards, the wallpaper, the flooring, the layout and yes the smell was still the same. A smell you can't quit put your finger on. I call if familiarity, love, hugs, strong catholic faith, homemade blueberry pies....mmmm. As I stood there with my two brothers, who now tower over 6'4" and weigh over 380lbs each, I thought what happened. It shrunk!!! Well, it didn't shrink we grew up. But the memories were HUGE. Running through the home with my cousins, Aunt Marion baking pies and sipping tea, the old wringer washer klunking away at the weeks laundry and Uncle Clarence in the later stages of alzheimers shuffling through this house filled of memories that for him were fading day by da. This once HUGE house (in a childs eyes) now sits on a crumbling foundation, looking withered with age and minute in scale to our adult masses. Since our visit in January Aunt Marion's home has been sold, torn down and a new more grander home has been built. That home with all it's newness and grandure will never erase what once was. It is one of the colors of my life's painting that has molded me into who I am. That is very real, very HUGE and yes nothing short of miraculous.
Cathy Williams
Brampton, ON
I'm so glad Grandmom got to see you guys! And that she was able to see Seth, too. I love it that she can go back there for a visit and be able to catch up with her old friends. She is a wonderful woman and I am so proud to call her my grandmother! I know she will always have a special place in your heart.
Dana
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