Oregon Memoires

My last trip to Central Oregon got me thinking about my grandparents & my childhood playground. How they influenced me & in some way, still do. My grandmother was in one word, joy. Every time I think of her a smile washes over my face. She loved Christmas & had gift shaking presents down to an art. I still swear she told my sisters' & me to toss our cat into the packages to see if any would rip. She never wanted us kids to be idle. Always telling us to get outside & play. Or did she want some peace & quiet? Grandma once told us she would "stomp our asses into a mud puddle" if we didn't get out side.

My Grandfather passed away a few years before, so I have less memories of him. Even to this day, I can't smell original ChapStick without thinking of him. Him & I are a lot alike; I seem to have about 10 hobbies at once, just like him. He was a gentle grandfather. I never remember hearing him raise his voice. Even after my cousins, sisters & I would take his beloved tools in the canyon to build forts.
Oh, those forts!! A couple of years ago I sneaked behind their old home climber over the fence, found the same trail we used as kids & walked down into the canyon. Past the boulders we named & trees we climbed. I stopped a few times to grab a handful of sagebrush, I swear that smell is embedded deep in my soul. The memories hit me like a freight train. I found a familiar place to sit & closed my eyes long enough to hear my childhood laughter. Most of the rocks we had used lay untouched. I laid my hand gently upon them & felt a connection to the past, my past & felt peace. I knew right then and there, my past & the people in it had blessed me. The last time I had been there was the day my Grandmother passed away. I sat on that same spot and cried it seemed forever. I cried for my mom, for me & my childhood. I knew they would be selling that home, those memories & nothing would be the same. But this time I was crying for a very different reason, I was crying tears of happiness & joy.
People never seem to sit & listen for the laughter.