Close to Nowhere
Monday, April 23, was my oldest granddaughter’s birthday. Bearing in mind I think she should still be 12, she actually was 22.
Pop always considered Mere an anniversary present. April 24 was our wedding anniversary, so that made her his present. Not ours, just his.
Binky, her childhood nickname, did come along at the perfect time. Pop was having serious health problems and was worrying about himself.
Not after we got Binky. He now had a goal and purpose in life -- raising that child. Her mother, a pediatric nurse at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital at the time, was certainly not qualified to take care of her.
And me? I’d only raised two children already (three if you count Pop), so what did I know? Little or nothing!
She did bring much joy to our little piece of woods. Her mother and our daughter Dana and I used to walk the dogs through a trail to our back field and whatever children were at the house would tag along.
We had a great route for walking -- though the Yangtze River bottom (a dry sand creek which floods in the rain), along through the Amazon forest (our woods) and up to the cliffs (about a five-foot-high mound of red Mississippi mud and clay).
At the top of this trail, Mere would often extend her arms, spin around and declare, “This is my forest!”
Mere, her younger sister Remy and assorted friends named places on the trek. They often made this trek in the middle of the night with Pop and flashlights. Those night walks were a hugely popular pastime that all the kids, now grown and with children of their own, still talk about.
Tuesday, April 24, would have been Pop’s and my 48th wedding anniversary. We married young and had our babies young and it was a wonderful time. We lived for many years right down the street from Pop’s mother and father and his little brother Paul, so there was always family close.
When Dana was born, Jimmie, Pop’s mom, would walk the half block from her house to ours to help me bathe the baby.
It really seems wrong that the baby Dana is not only old enough to have children of her own, but now, Dana is a grandmother.
Merideth and Remy came along at a time when Pop needed them very much.
Now, I’ve gotten Shepard and am looking forward to Ruby June.
Happy Birthday, Binky!