The Road Home
How many times I must have driven up this country road,
yearning for the peace and tranquility of my Prairie style home? If I could get behind the doors of this home
I knew I would be safe and secure as a lamb feels with the shepherd. I’ll be held tight by the walls of this old
house. Winter days were bright and
cheerful, sitting with a cup of coffee with my husband huddled in his soft
recliner, sawing logs with his green checked throw around his legs and arms. The
wood burning stove all stoked up and the light burning bright and warm. To say we were at peace here is an
understatement. You see, this house has
seen love; it has seen hardships unknown to other people; it has seen two
little boys who wrapped themselves around their Pawpaw and Memaw giving them
butterfly kisses when they only knew us as their protectors in the storms of
this life. It has seen sorrow whenever
they left us for a new home.
Changes! Many changes that go on
and on like the seasons we always count on to come and go and then come back
again. The future was held at bay, but
then the dam broke an the future broke through the doors like a comet. Changes again! Always Changes!
Summer comes with the boiling hot sun; burning the leaves on
the pecan trees and the wisps of grass that grow sporadically due to the shade
of the towering pecan trees and the winter ice that froze the grass back in 1999 until it could no longer
reproduce. Still, it Is a beautiful
place to be. Summer mornings on the front
porch are awesomeness! The coffee savored on the porch is extra, extra special
while listening to the birds of summer and watching the little hummers in
flight, drinking nectar from the hanging feeders. They pay little attention to me as I watch
this wonder of nature, so small and yet so powerful hanging in the air like helium filled balloons rising and falling with the flutter of wind and
wings. Grace me again Lord and fill my
eyes with your wonders of nature and song.
Home! A place like no other;
filling my soul with Zen; filling my eyes with beauty; and filling my heart
until it could burst from the sheer Godlike environment a summer porch in the country
can supply. I have this whole outdoor
theatre and it is mine to behold.
Thank
you God for the messages of love from my family; from my friends and complete
strangers I have encountered in my Prairie home for 30 years. I have enjoyed the gatherings here with my family and friends. I believe if I quiet
down I can hear the leftover laughter of my mother; the smell of Christmas Eves spent here with family; my
husband’s whistling whenever he was happy or busy with a project; the teenagers
upstairs playing their loud music; the smell of frying fish all summer and Sunday morning
coffee brewing while the bacon was frying - - all prepared by my husband. I can see Ashley sitting on the stairs or
playing outside as a child and now her children when they arrive. I will
always remember Faith, our youngest grandchild, born and brought here to live
along with her mommy and daddy. I can
remember the best friends down the road.
Yes, as time passes, I can capture the beauty of each moment that
happened here.
Goodbye Prairie house!
It is time for me to turn the page of my life, but I will never forget
the forever moments with you, ever…
Sandy Templin, May 2, 2014
