Time Passing On

Kami and Krissi started school in August, 2006, and the house still had not sold. Dad got fed up with the Real Estate Agent, who didn't seem to be pushing very hard to sell the house. Eventually he lowered the price again and decided to sell the house himself. Once in awhile someone would come by to look things over, but no one was really interested. Even though they would be getting a smoking good deal; two acres of prime Gilbert property and a 4,500 square-foot home for less than the price of bare land in our area, $750,000 was still a lot of money. People spending that much wanted to get a gorgeous house. They were looking for marble counter-tops, real wood floors, plush carpets, and upgraded stainless steel appliances. What they found was a nice, comfortable, simple farm-style home with no luxurious amenities. Oh well. I was happy staying put for as long as I could.

On the other hand, dad forged ahead building a home for mom up in Snowflake. At the moment, she was doing semi-well. Her legs hurt continually, there was something wrong with the sciatic nerves they though, but the doctors couldn't find any way to relieve the pain. Her feet were also numb or painful, but at least her heart and lungs seemed to be working better since her open-heart surgery. Still, dad was determined to get her up to Snowflake so Alan could keep an eye on her, and they spent a great deal of time up there as dad cleared the lot across the street from Linda and Alan and got it ready for building. Mom went with him, but she wasn't as excited as he was about moving. She loved her home in Gilbert, her friends from church, the neighborhood, and all the people she had grown up with, but most of all she loved being close to her family. She still had two sisters and a brother who lived in Mesa whom she was very close to, as well as most of her children and grandchildren.

Moe's mother, on the other hand, was slowly slipping away. By the end of the summer she had stopped eating, communicating, or even showing signs of recognition when we talked to her. Obviously, it was just a matter of time before she was gone. She died peacefully on September third, with Moe, his sister and his father, by her bed.

I went with them later that day to make plans at the funeral home. It was the first time I was actively involved in planning a funeral, although I'd been to many. They chose to use Bunkers Mortuary for the arrangements, and that was nice. I'd grown up down the street from the Bunker family, and it felt like home working with them.

Grandma's funeral was sweet. Perhaps I have a morbid streak, but I love funerals. Ever since I was a kid I've enjoyed hearing the happy memories, the inspiring stories, and the tender spiritual lessons presented at those occasions. Even through the tears, the spirit is always strong, and I love the feeling of being close to dear ones on the other side of the veil. It always reminds me of a big, joyful family reunion. Still, as I sat in the chapel at Grandma's funeral, I couldn't help wondering how long it would be before we had another one. Grandpa Ashcroft seemed so feeble just then, and was already in his late eighties. Also, in the back of my mind, I knew it was possible we might lose mother one of these days. How odd, that in the end mother outlived both Moe's father and my dad.

Playing at the Cabin

There was a great big, huge cedar tree which grew on the north side of Grandma and Grandpa's cabin.  We always told mom we were going downstairs to play, I guess because our cabin was on top of the hill and Grandma's cabin was down below.  It really wasn't downstairs, but down the path, or down the trail sounds kind of screwy, doesn't it?  

 Dad made a really neat swing by placing a big log high up between the branches of the cedar and a smaller tree next to it.  He hung a long piece of rope from the log, tying  it in two places so it hung down in a long U.  Dad cut a smooth plank of wood, notched both ends, and hung it at the bottom of the U.  It seemed like every time we came down to swing that seat was lying on the ground and we had to put it back, but we didn't mind because the rope was so long that swing went higher than any swing we had ever been on before.  When dad pushed we sailed up so high our feet almost touched the leaves above us.  Then dad would run under and come out in front of us, while we laughed and laughed and felt like the whole world was rushing by us in the wind. 

The older cousins built a tree house in the tree next to the swing, with pieces of wood nailed to the trunk so you could climb up.  It was high up in the tree, but there were railings to keep kids from falling out.  We would play up in the tree house for hours, borrowing  Grandma Russell’s cow bell, so we could pretend that it was our school. 

            Sometimes we would go swimming down at the spring.  The water was deep enough to come up above Dad's waste, so was perfect for teaching children how to swim.  Mom wore an olive green swimming suit and dad had dark blue trunks, but they always had some kind of shirt or cover-up to wear over their suits.  They knew that even though it was cooler up here in the mountains the sun shown just as brightly and we could all get burnt.  One summer Mom made terrycloth cover ups for all us kids, which we weren't too happy about wearing, but they sure made good towels.  The creek was always ice cold.  We would sit on the big rocks beside the swimming hole and slowly inch our way into the water, one toe at a time, until we got used to the cold.  Dad laughed at us, telling us it was easier to just jump in all at once.  No one would listen.  Then, suddenly, he would jump up, shout, "Geronimo!" and cannon ball into the water, splashing all of us with ice cold water in the process.  How he laughed as Mom scolded him for getting her wet, and how good the hot rocks felt when we climbed out and lay down on them to get warm.

            Sometimes we visited with Grandma Russell in her cabin.  She taught us girls how to make dolls out of the hollyhocks that grew at the west end of the garden, next to the long driveway.  When we turned them upside down it's petals made beautiful long dresses for princesses and queens.  Grandma also taught us how to sew dresses for our barbie dolls.  She had lots of scraps of material we could use, and she showed us how to cut and sew them together, using needles and thread.  She even had little thimbles we could put on our fingers so we didn't poke holes in our skin. 

            In the garden, Grandpa planted rows of strawberries.  Every morning we searched through the plants, looking for big, juicy strawberries.  When we found some we took them to the pump, washed them in cold water, then popped them into our mouth.  Oh!  They were delicious!  Sometimes Grandma asked us to pick strawberries for her.  We loved doing that, because we knew that meant she was going to bake a strawberry rhubarb pie for dinner, and that was delicious!