I knew very early on in my life that I was drawn to the older folks. I wanted to be around them and spend time in their presence. There have been so many folks much older than me that I truly adored. I have found out there is a great price to pay for loving older folks, the day comes when they are no longer here.
I knew long ago that was a price I would always be willing to pay. The memories of all the time that I have shared with the older folks burn brightly in my mind every day. I remain thankful for all of the ones that have gone on to their great reward. I am thankful for the love we shared and the knowledge and the wisdom that they bestowed upon me.
I have certainly been very attached to the older men throughout my life, but there have also been older ladies as well that have impacted my life in ways I could never repay. I can’t begin to imagine my life without all of these precious souls that have helped to guide me through this journey we call life.
My paternal grandmother, known to me as Bigma, was my absolute best friend growing up. I was so fortunate to have grown up within walking distance of her house. I spent countless hours at her house enjoying her company and her fried cornbread. She nurtured me in so many ways.
We ate at her house with great frequency and time spent at Bigma’s was always a true delight. She loved to laugh and cut up. I guess that’s where I get my love of humor and lightheartedness from. We had many glorious moments together just laughing and enjoying life.
She kept Cokes in little glass bottles in the fridge. She also kept a bowl of Hershey’s Kisses hidden in a cabinet as well as Keebler’s Pinwheels. Let me tell you, one of those pinwheels and a glass of cold milk was a delicacy to a little boy wanting a snack. She always made sure that I was well fed on any given day.
The meals she prepared for me, the treats she shared, and her infectious laugh are memories that will live on in my soul for eternity. She gave her love to me as a free gift, and she always had just the right words to make whatever I was facing seem alright. Bigma lived a very simple life which I still truly admire to this day.
As I got older, I saw her in ways that I did not see as a child. I realized the hardships she endured. The pain she suffered. My respect for her continually increased. She lived her life with grace, with love and with true compassion for the people she came in contact with.
I saw what a truly remarkable woman she was. She raised four children by herself after the death of my grandfather. She was stalwart. I’m not sure she knew just how much I was watching her and just how much she was teaching me. I was like a sponge, soaking up all of her wisdom and her love.
This past Sunday morning I met one of my old friends for breakfast as the sun was just rising in the east. We enjoyed a hardy breakfast and then set out on an adventure. We rode all over the county looking at farmland, old barns and just talking. He is twenty-five years my senior, but he has been one of my best friends since I was a teenager.
I have always been drawn to him for a multitude of reasons, but one day many years ago, I realized one of the greatest reasons was his intelligence. I’m drawn to intelligence. I’m drawn to his wisdom. He freely shares both of those attributes with me and I am thankful.
He shares all of his many experiences with me, experiences that have been accumulated over eighty years of living. He talks about all of the things he has seen come and go, things that have changed and what he has learned from them all.
He has seen hard times and has endured through them all, a lesser man might not have made it. He openly shares the mistakes he has made, the bad decisions and his humility shines through like the full moon.
Oddly enough, he never brags about his successes, but he gladly shares whatever it was that he was wrong about. He shares the losses he suffered and not the mountains he has climbed. In life, we learn way more from loss than we do gain and his life, his stories exemplify that completely.
The next thing you know it’s about 12:30 and we’re sitting down to eat Sunday dinner. We have, once again, spent the whole morning together. Time flies when you’re having fun. I have watched him my whole life, I have taken notes and I have been like a sponge soaking up all he has to offer.
