Swinging on the swing in the Patio

Swinging on the swing in the Patio...

You know I think back on my life when I was a child and I remember things that Grandpa said.
There where so many things that he would say that I didn't really think about how much the value of his
words where then. His words to me where once strange and weird or shall I say even huh?
Everything seems so right and makes since now.
I undertood to the point that I was learning
something and soaking it in for then..
I also know that I will never stop learning as he never stopped learning either..
What I learned from my Grandpa though will stay with me through my lifetime and perhaps it will even last when I am gone.
This is passed from generation to genteration among families.

One of Grandpa's statements made when I was a child was , "If you are not going to do it right, don't do it at all.
Why do things half way, when you can go all the way to the finish. Then when you are done you can
play and enjoy the hard work you have done."
I could always tell how proud Grandpa was when he sat down on the swing.
He was always picky about where things went.
If you used something put it back where you first got it.
Keep things neat, organized, and clean. He had many tools, and always had
a solution to fix any problem that came up. He would describe what would be done, how to do it, what to use, and then let who ever
was with him do the work. He would show you a few times if you where slacking on the job but the logic behind what he was showing you seemed to make since afterwards because you where not going back and doing the job over and over. It was done and it was done right the first time..

A good example of this is the way you sweep a sidewalk. Starting with the broom on the inside of the walk way
and push to the out, left to right, or the other way around if you where turned the opposite direction. All the debri should go in one direction away from the areas in your space. . If space was bigger than the sidewalk like a driveway then you sweep in rows. All the dirt would stay in a row as you worked your way down to the end of your space... I sometimes would doubt his process and get so frustrated because I just wanted to be done so I could go play or get paid my allowance... I loved earning money!

   Grandpa had a business manager trait in his character. He ran his own business before I was born.. He was one of the top contracted in the business of cement mason and construction in all of Tallmage Portage Lake Township. Surrounded areas where Summit, Kent, Springfield, Canton and many other counties in Akron Ohio. .. He ran a lot of trucks and a lot of people worked with him. He was good at what he done. Many people would brag about his work or comment to him on a job well done. He was picky about how the concrete was poured and how it was leveled too. The driveway he poured at his own house is still there today with little or very few cracks of repair patches. The driveway has held up over thirty years of northern extremes with severe cold winters and very hot summers.

Now these words may not be in direct order or will they will not be the precise
conversation, but these are the words indeed he explained to me. I have to also say I remember him being so smart, very intelligent, talked with no accents, that is
unless his teeth where out of place then it sounded as if he was slurring his speech or he was tired and out of it..
If you where out of line, he would speak in a tone that you knew you better straighten up,
which wasn't very often for me. He would talk in a very low, deep, caring type voice
most of the time. He even had his eyes looking upon you with a soft, haze, twinkle glow to them. You just knew
that he was a very emotional person, though not of a sobbing type. He was a man that cared about those around him.
When he smiled the wrinkles around his eyes would stretch outwards and open his eyes more and you could
tell that he was happy.

Grandpa was very humorous. Things didn't bother him to bad though occasionally he would say
"Get me some milk so I can take my medicine please..", or "Honey, get Judy to fix me some juice will you please"...
It was always like he addressed the person, then add the question of want, with will you please last.
One thing that I never thought was fair is that Grandpa had diabetes. He had to use insulin
and take two shots daily. He usually could do this himself or he would go to the room and
call Grandma to help him. When he done it himself he would ask "Honey go get my
insulin box will you please?"   That was his way. He was also the boss...He would always let it be
known with a smirky type grin on his face, "I'm the boss around here!" If you didn't
believe him he would say, "Just go look in my room". There was a picture hanging with the sign on the wall that
held a picture of him along with a quote reading "I'm the boss around here!" I will never forget it either. There was another sign with it that also read "You are a stranger here but once" People just knew though
that he was the boss and they knew that they weren't strangers in the house too, the smile reminded them that he was also trying to be funny.

I think one of Grandpa's favorite past time even the older he got was to be swinging on the swing in the patio..
He would sit there with his cane either in the middle of his feet or to one side of him or the other as he held the top handle with the bottom of the cane on the floor to help push the swing back and forth.
One summer I spent a lot of time while I was visiting swinging back and forth right next to Grandpa on that old swing in the patio.
Grandpa had this talk with me, it was a conversation that really changed me and made me stronger emotionally...
We were talking about what kind of feelings we should have when people get old and die.   I asked him, "Grandpa what will
happen when you die?" His reply was, "Well I would hope you would not be sad and that
you would carry me with you in your heart. I expect that you will cry, being a little sad,
but afterwards move on, be happy...I will be done with my time on earth. My life has been filled with all that and more. I will be with you always. You will know this because
you will remember everything that we have done together as well as everything I have taught you. I will live in your heart for as long as you let me and you will remember all of the memories." This conversation sord of made me a little sad because I already understood what death was and I
didn't like the idea at all of living with out Grandpa. I still wanted to have the reassurance as most kids ask silly things and want
to know these things. I also wanted so bad for him to be around when my children where born but even though he is not I know he is anyways because he is still living in my heart just like he said. He also lives in a lot of others.. You know the solid core structure in families are the parents or granparents. They hold the most time spent with credits due to raising a life worth passing on through generations.

I wonder just how many people have sat on the patio swing, swinging.
I wonder what others think about or how many remember all of the times spent there together.
I wonder if these memories are forgotten or if the swing is cherished for all of Grandpa's time he put into making a life of his and then giving it to his seedlings to look after..
There where moments when Grandpa would sit there and tell me stories about how David and my dad would get into trouble. Or Nancy and Judy had many moments and firsts as children.. I will get into these types of stories later I just felt that I should add this here in this section under Swinging in the Patio...
This was Grandpa's and Grandma's swing.
This is how Grandpa and Grandma learned from my great grandparents...
Here I also have to include for my children will not meet my Grandpa in person but through my ways of what I learned and the memories that where planted by his seeds they will still know these same feelings.

Swinging on the swing in the Patio was my favorite place growing up and to this day I love to revisit.. I have to sit there on the swing capturing all of the smells like grease from the garage, or chlorine from the pool pump, sun oil from the cushions, beer from empty bottles in the trash can, pine from the trees, the soil in general even has a richness smell... I like to remember things from my past, I suppose this means I carry a lot with me..I am very sensitive to little details and how things matter and how we should make memories now. I can sometimes even smell the oldspice after shave that Grandpa always had on him after shaving.. Shoot even when he rubbed his ruff unshaved cheek on me while giving me a hug he would smell like old spice. How do I explain these scents for others to understand?

I took naps on the swing. I remember laying on my back or stomach with my feet kicked up or backwards resting on the chain. I have seen a lot of others do this too perhaps even grandma. How can anyone forget the chain noise beating together as the chain that moved the swing bounced back and hit the extra links that where hanging.. Thats almost a music chime in my ears and it has a spark everytime I go back to the swing or sometimes if I hear another swing anywhere else.
Of course these things stand out because I was a child and childhood is a special time.
In ways though these where the times when I learned how to escape from reality. I could put all of my worries, feelings, fears, and other thoughts of problems right out of my mind.
I loved the summer visits the most when my parents where not around mostly because no one bothered me to much. I could actually be myself. No one demanded anything from me and usually if I was told to do anything I remember always hearing a polite please. Thankyou would follow up behind it as well.
Appreciation and respectful thoughts always crossed my mind and I knew that this was how life was meant to be.
I was loved and someone cared for me. I wanted to care for others back and hopefully I sure have cared.

Swinging always gave me a since of freedom.
Perhaps it does for a lot of people..
It's a good thing for sure.
I miss the swing sometimes even when I am miles away, I can still go there anyways in my mind.
My spirit has a freedom that the swing gave me. I have other favorite spots in many places that are miles away from each other like you know on top of a mountain with a view or by a river with rocks and water noise or on a beach with the salt water waves crashing into the sand..
How does other favorite peaceful resting places tie together with swinging?
Easy...
Making time for ourselves, our thoughts, our family, our life, creating memories, and sharing all of the little usual things even weird habits go hand in hand with swinging back and forth on a swing.
Maybe I never understood things while I was growing up right then but I understand them now perfectly clear.
You have to hold on to what matters to you the most in life right now! If you don't you will loose it or it will be ruined and gone..
You can also always do things right the first time and that will give you a benifit as well as a reward rather it be extra time to day dream alone, perhaps time to play, perhaps a stash of money saved...
My dad (Dean) said one of the things he remembered the most about his dad (Grandpa or some call him Harold) was this "When dad got home from work he could always set his lunchbox, thermos, and keys down on the steps then join in what ever games all of us kids where playing at the time."
I wasn't around of course when my dad, David, Nancy, and Judy where kids but years after they grew up and I was here as well as Nicholas, Jennifer, Justin, and much later Eric, Grandpa did come out and play. Grandpa played a lot but it was for sure after the work and chores where all done.
It is these little memories that make up our life lessons on how to survive.
I hope that swinging on the swing in the patio will be a treasure of a memory to pass to my boys and now new second cousins as well as to other important people in my life. Swinging is a good reason for sharing and telling others all about swinging in my story of memories,
Life is short and so can a memory be lost from a brain as we all forget from time to time, but it is what we make of it while we have it that counts.

Swing children, swing children.
Play! Everyone Play!
After you work hard all day, take a break and play!
Laugh! Love! Share with one another and create those memories for the future will treasure scrap books, stories, and of course all of your joys in life.
Swing all of your life through like this and it will always balance right with a extra piece of wisdom in the chain links banging against another chain that was created from the first time someone sat there butt down to have a swing ...
Swinging is in the delights of rewards from all hard working chores...
Swinging was a lesson to learn in my early childhood years and carried out by what I have to show from in the years spent swinging...
It is a memory worth telling stories about and remembering all of the moments..
Sad though how life is short and Grandpa as well as many others will be missed..
Lessons learned as life goes on while we live..
If you have parked yourself in a swing even for just once then perhaps you understand this, work without play, is like having memories without family.
Therefore my final statement to all is this,
"Swinging on the swing in the patio."