I grew up on what we called"Fruit Loop Lane". We had a fabulous peach orchard and a huge garden. As a child I can remember working, hard. I admit we felt picked on. NO other kids had to go weed the orchard and snip beans ALL day. No one else had to practice the piano and iron shirts for 25 cents a piece (maybe if Phil paid me this rate he'd see more ironing!) We spent family home evenings cleaning up old people's yards and summer evenings husking and shucking corn. My parents are hard workers (the hardest I know) and they either wanted to instill in us a love of hard work or make us allergic to it. The only kids who had it worse were our neighbors, the Frandsens. Man, they worked HARD!
I'm not sure how they did it, but so many of those memories of working are also some of my fondest childhood memories. I can remember the family gathering around husking corn and trying to trick each other into sitting on the chair with the hose on it. I can remember staying up till midnight putting that same corn into freezer bags, but happy to be spending the time together. I can remember being out weeding the orchard and just laughing hysterically with my little brother. I remember snipping beans while watching "I love Lucy" in the FAMILY ROOM, but only if we were on blankets and picked up every snip. I can remember how good it felt to do some work for my grandma who couldn't get around so well anymore. I can remember painting or cleaning out the garage while we listened to general conference on a beautiful fall day. Whether I wanted to or not, I learned to love work.
And I still LOVE to work along side my parents. This week the boys and I headed back to "Fruit Loop Lane" for some cousin time. We had a great time playing and hanging out, but when I saw those four bags of fresh beans in the refrigerator I couldn't have been happier. "Gather around children, it's time to snip beans." And they were excited! We worked together til the novelty wore off and eventually finished the snipping. The next day I GOT to help my mom can the beans. Micah helped fill the jars and mom and I made fresh raspberry jam while they processed. It was so fun! The kids all played so nicely and I felt like we had actually accomplished something worthwhile - 14 quarts of beans and 7 pints of jam. Nothing looks better than full canning jars on the cupboard.
So thank you mom and dad. Thanks for teaching me to work. Thanks for teaching me to love work. Thanks for teaching me that worthwhile things aren't always easy or sweat free. Looks like you did more than fill canning jars in the process...
Grandma and Grandpa Rock!
3 comments:
He he. Loved this post. We WERE picked on!!! Good times. I loved the days when your Dad would pick a watermelon and we all got to come over and eat and eat and eat, then spit and spit and spit seeds.
You got to snip beans? Lucky!! We were shelling a few peas the other day and did it in front of the computer watching a show, but only with a blanket underneath us. I was telling Barry about the lucky days when we got to watch t.v. while snipping beans. We have some awesome childhood memories, don't we?
it's true - and i still have the blisters and calluses to prove it!! haha!
i can still see your dad walking back home from the barn with a shovel over one shoulder:) good times:)
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