Hold on tight and enjoy the roller coaster ride!
As you know, I love going to our Wednesday morning ladies Bible class. Hearing women who have been faithful followers of Jesus decade after decade talk about their gratitude for Jesus thrills my soul. Hearing their stories about things before my time warms my heart.
It’s especially fun when they start on one of their bubbling over story times. One person tells a story which prompts one story after another. Pop, pop, pop! They get going and I write as fast as I can. It happened yesterday and went something like this:
Ladies 1 and 2 – When preachers came to town and set up tent meetings, school officials let school out and walked the students over to the hear the afternoon service. (I asked what time period this was. It was the 1950s).
Lady 3 – School used to let out for funerals.
Lady 4 – Businesses used to close for funerals, too.
Lady 5 – Robert Birdwell was driving our school bus. When Mrs. Smith died (I don’t actually remember the name), they had her laid out at home. Mr. Birdwell stopped the bus. We all filed by and viewed the body and got back on the bus.
Last week Miss Margaret told us about one time where her daddy hired a local man to drive her mother, her mother’s sister-in-law, and several children to the Tennessee State Fair. When the women went into the Women’s Building (that’s where the canning and sewing and such were on display), the children headed for the roller coaster. One of the little girls was especially small. Miss Margaret planned to ride with her. She said that the roller coaster operator evidently thought she wasn’t much bigger than the other little girl, so he climbed in with them. He was wearing a necktie. Can you imagine a ride operator in a necktie today? When they started going, the little girl grabbed his necktie, held on tight, and didn’t let go ’til the ride was over! Miss Margaret was sure he was ready for that ride to finish.
Your children are storing memories ready to bubble out decades from now. What a super-fun way you get to spend your days — watching those memories in the making. Hold on tight and enjoy the roller coaster ride!
This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
This brought tears to my eyes and a sense of longing! Thanks for sharing!
My daughter asks me to tell her stories from my childhood often. Honestly, most are not good memories so I struggle with coming up with something. My grandparents raised me so I can’t even tell the usual stories about going to grandmas for the weekend or holidays. We lived on a farm and never even so much as went out to eat. Certainly didn’t go to church, visit friends or on family vacations BUT we did have plenty to eat as we raised our own beef, pork and big garden. Sometimes I may go a bit overboard trying to make memories for my daughter to be able to tell her children someday.