Raking Leaves

I was driving today and happened to pass through the old neighborhood I lived in when I was in elementary school. Things haven't changed too much in that neck of the woods and so I always feel a small, slow rise of emotion as old memories come rushing to the front of my mind. One of those familiar things in my old neighborhood is a park that my parents would take me and my siblings to for a romp and a frolick. I'm sure this was to assist us in burning off some steam so that we would be ready to bathe and go "night-night" once we got back home :)

I have fond memories of that park especially during that season of the year when the tall oak and pecan trees would start to shed their leaves, dropping dead, but yet gorgeous, multi-colored foliage on the ground. We would run through those mounds of leaves, many times falling on nature's cushioned padding. Sometimes, our goal would be to bury ourselves under the crackling piles, only to burst out of them soon after. The absolute most fun in playing at that park was enjoying those leaves with my parents who would engage with us, throwing leaves back and forth, scooping up piles for us to fall in, and helping to bury us up to our chins.

Leaves weren't only at that special park. There were plenty of them in our front yard too. When leaves covered our lawn, it was different than at the park. We couldn't just play...we had to WORK!

It was a family affair, going out front to get those leaves up with our trusty red-headed rake. We'd all help in some way. Some would rake, some would collect the leaves to put in the bag and others would hold the bag. I remember whining and complaining about being tired or about my nose running, or about having to do more work than another of my siblings (especially being the oldest). Occasionally we'd have a little fun with those leaves but not too much cuz we didn't want to lengthen our laboring time picking up the leaves we'd thrown or the piles we'd messed up!

Funny thing...that raking-leaves-family-affair. Each year as we did this lawn work together, we built memories. One by one, our moments together built upon one another to entrench themselves in our memories and our hearts forever. Just as those piles of leaves were raked together, collected with little hands, and thrown in large black trash bags, we slowly added to the family tie that still binds us together.

Many of life's memories are made this way, moment by moment, small "pile" by small "pile". In today's frantic pace, we have the tendency to go for the "big-bang's". Those trips to Disney World, that fantastic Christmas present, or that once-in-a-blue-moon special family dinner. We forget that the biggest things come in small packages. Most of the things I remember well about my upbringing are the things we ALWAYS did - no matter how small. The things that we did over and over, day by day, month by month, or year by year are the things I recall the best.

Unfortunately, in my current neighborhood, there aren't many trees and the trees that do exist are so small that you can't see the trees for the houses! I really miss that wooded neighborhood of my childhood but I have memories that are so rich and warm, they will remain entrenched in my heart forever. I'm so grateful to my parents for every fall evening that they got us dressed, bundled us up, and took us to that park to let us run through the leaves again and again. I'm so grateful that they took a job like raking leaves and, although they could have done it a lot faster themselves, they involved their small children in the job to create memories....pile by pile.

That's how memories are created, pile by pile, one by one, building on one another over time, cemented by love, cured with hugs and kisses, laughter, warm smiles, and welcoming arms. Memories take time...and they take sacrifice. I pray that I don't waste the time I have now with my loved ones. I pray that I don't take for granted that time is the best gift I can give my family. I pray that I will not pass by a park with fallen leaves and not ever have the time to unload my kids, bundle them up and let them run, jump, throw, and bury themselves in memories.

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