Sweet Friends & Family Memories

When I was a little girl (my, that seems like a long time ago!), we lived in a town away from family. My parents had some very close relationships with people in our church, and one couple in particular were like grandparents to me. They are about 10 years younger than my grandparents, but they always seemed like grandparents to me. Their names are Bill and Georgia. Georgia would babysit us every Wednesday night while Mom and Dad did something at church (I don't even know what). That went on from as far back as I can remember until we moved away when I was 6.

When we moved away from that little town and into the city where I really grew up (and where my dad's parents lived), we started going to the river on vacation with Bill and Georgia. I remember doing it for the first time when I was 6 or 7 years old. The river where we go has some pretty decent rapids and is lots of fun to tube down. We would rent a one room cabin with a screened in front porch, a kitchen and a bathroom, and the 6 of us (Bill and Georgia, Mom, Dad, my brother and me) would all stay there. There were 2 sets of bunk beds, and one double bed, just enough for us to all have a place to sleep. The best spot to start the tubing trip was right there, across about 70 yards of grass at the swimming hole just past the low water crossing. It was a great place to go year after year after year.

One of those years when we had met Bill and Georgia at the cabin, they went out for their morning coffee like they always did, but this time they didn't come back for a long time. Turns out they were out buying their own place in a little town just upstream from the cabin. They retired there a few years later.

So now when we go to the river, we always visit Bill and Georgia. We did that two years ago when my girls were 3 and 5, too little to tube down the river, so Mom and Georgia stayed behind and took the girls to the swimming hole. Last year when I was doing my new teacher days, Mom and Dad took my girls with them to visit Bill and Georgia, but they didn't do any tubing. They did go this year for the first time and it was great! Big Girl said her favorite thing was the rapids. We were worried that she'd get scared at some point along the way and want to bail out with 2 hours of tubing left to go.

This year Mom and Dad rented a cabin at a new place near Bill and Georgia's for all 8 of us (my brother and his wife, Mom and Dad, Hubby, the girls and me), since there are too many of us to stay with Bill and Georgia. We had dinner with them Friday night, and they came over and visited with us at our cabin Saturday. They saw the swimming hole with a cliff you can jump off and a rope swing, located just a short walk from where we stayed. When we were down there showing it to Bill and Georgia, of course the girls wanted to swim, and since they were in the water (with their life jackets on), they needed one adult to be dressed for rescue should the need arise, and that was me. Everyone else was in regular clothes.

While we were there, us grown-ups were sitting on a ledge, about 3-4 feet from the water, talking and visiting. Georgia had been taking pictures of us, and the girls swimming. She had put her camera in her pocket. She leaned over at one point to adjust her shoe or something and the camera slipped out of her pocket and *sploosh* it went into the water. It landed near the edge, just before the deep drop off.

Being the only one in a swim-suit, it was up to me to rescue the digital camera. I mustered up my courage and jumped off the rope swing, swam over to the edge, reached down the 4 feet to grab it, and handed it up to the cheering entourage. Through it all, Georgia was laughing and easy-going about it all. She has been known to knock a glass over on a new preacher in her time. Bill didn't get flustered about it either. I know neither of them were happy about it, but they have both been around long enough to know the value of things. Things are just things. People are important.

While it could be said that Georgia is not a graceful person, I'd like to argue that she's one of the most grace-filled people you can imagine. She's full of grace, and that's far better. Georgia's sweet spirit is refreshing, and spending time with her, laughing with her, visiting with her left us all smiling. Bill is fun too, in a different way. I enjoy talking with him too. Conversations with Bill are always deep, and intellectually stimulating. He's been walking with God for a long time, and it shows.

When Bill and Georgia's kids started having kids of their own, I remember feeling a little bit displaced. I wished we could go there for Christmases instead of my grandparents'. I know there are something things reserved for family. But I'm sure that what we have is the very next best thing. We have love. We share God's love. In that way, we are family.

We just got back from the river today. It was a very special thing to be sharing that place, and these precious people, with my girls. I learned that both of my parents went to this river when they were kids. I hadn't realized that before this trip. I wonder if my mom's parents went there as kids... Anyway, we know for sure this is the 3rd generation (at least) enjoying this part of God's creation. My girls are sharing in some of my childhood memories. The place we started our tubing trip 2 days ago was 70 yards away from the cabin we always stayed in with Bill and Georgia more than 20 years ago. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

For some reason, the song in my head is "The Calculation," by Regina Spektor. I think I heard it twice on the drive home today.