The Japanese Magnolia had to come down. Time and progress had taken a toll and its beauty was no longer center stage. His love for the tree was not lost, that was evident in his struggle to rationalize the decision. While the tree will no longer be there as a beautiful hello, it is not lost. Our memories hold on tight creating a forever place.
A Forever Place is Always there
Recently, the root system of Mammaw’s magnolia was found to be grown around pipes to the point of no return. My cousin had to make the tough decision to have the tree removed. Honestly, it is just part of what happens over time and unfortunately, the one left standing must move forward and make decisions. He posted about the magnolia, and I just happen to catch it as I scrolled looking for spring planting ideas for my garden. Little did he know, he was opening a memory bank for me. As I read, I temporarily returned to my upbringing and revisited a forever place.
Where Nature Chose to Plant
A walk across my Mammaw’s lawn and you knew she treasured nature and all its beauty. Hers was not a picture-perfect world (at least not from the viewpoint of the printed newsstand perfection), but one she created over time with her own hands. Flowers were nestled under shrubs, around sheds, along the walkway from streetside to the front porch and anywhere else nature chose to plant seeds and extend roots.
She created one of the first fishponds I had ever seen off to the side of her back lot along the tree line. Her lawn was to be played in, walked through, and enjoyed not tiptoed around and admired from a distance. A few neighborhood cats crossed the lawn often to dine from the tin pie pans she quietly set next to the steps after dinner. Kitchen leftovers were never wasted. It became a forever place for all of us.
Let Your Mind Create The Place
I’m sorry to say that I have very few pictures. Memories give me the joy of being back with my mammaw, but as with any story you are not a part of creating, you’ll need to use your imagination to create this forever place in your mind. Do your best, I promise it is worth it.
It's A Part Of Me
As I began to write today, I planned to write a post I have been revisiting in my mind around childhood. But I have decided that will have to be another day. For now, I am caught up and loving the gift of memory lane. When a place is a part of who you are, it is often revisited either intentionally or probably more often, unintentionally. This small town (very small town) in Mississippi is part of me. While I never lived there, I could be found there just about every time school offered us a break. This is where my extended family lived so my parents were probably counting the days until they could see the faces they missed. Our family of four would pile into the gray Chevrolet or the GMC Gaucho van and travel along I-20 for most of the day anxious to arrive. Claiming my space or “half” of the backseat was essential for surviving this long road.
The Backdoor
After gazing at endless fields of cotton and interstate signs, my Mammaw’s white house at the four-way intersection was a welcomed sight. Driving around back, passing my Pappaw’s beagle runs, and causing quite a rush of barking and running was the best way to arrive. While the front door was most likely open for easy sight of the goings-on, the back door was where we headed. The screened door was going to slam no matter how hard you tried to remember or how many voices had screamed “Don’t let the door slam”.
My Mammaw would be sitting on a dining room chair pulled out ever so slightly from the table. Now I am realizing this was her strategy for jumping up quickly no matter what was needed. Her sweet voice and warm smile would greet us only seconds before we’d have a cold glass-bottled Coke in our hands. We’d hug necks and anxiously ask when our cousins were coming.
Always a Forever Place
Jump over or squeeze past the floor radiators. In my young mind, they would burn my feet no matter the time of year. My sister and I would soon claim the “blue room” as our place for the week. Honestly, I do not even remember if the walls were blue or not. Something in there must’ve been blue as that is what it has always been in my mind. There were family members’ portraits from years ago in each room and we were sure their eyes were moving. Imagination has fun with young minds. That is how I remember it and always will be.
All The Vintage Charm
The one bathroom sat between two bedrooms and would quickly become a popular place once we arrived. A faucet for hot and a faucet for cold gave my young mind the task of creating warm water. The slivers of colorful soap tightly bound in the plastic netting previously used to hold veggies were all you needed to see to realize how resourceful and clever my mammaw was. Even with all the intriguing details in her bathroom, I never liked taking a bath. The timid child in me just knew someone would soon be knocking with an emergency to come in or somehow the lock would fail and in they would come.
There was a picture on the back of her door and oh, how I wish I could remember its details. It might’ve been a cross stitch sampler piece. Did my Mammaw stitch this? I wonder what ever happened to this treasure. It read something like this…” Who waits outside the door one may never know so tarry not my friend for he too may have to go.” Even her bathroom with all its vintage charm is a forever place.
Like A Fairytale
My cousins would eventually arrive, and we would make our way “downtown”. Filling our bags with nickel and dime candy was our goal so that we could trade later in the evening. My cousin and I created our world in the backyard by the metal swing set. It was our “mud kitchen” but more than that it was our place to discover the world across our imagination with divine help from nature. As a child, the thought of driving back to Mississippi often frustrated me, but now I realize it was an essential part of my childhood. It seems like a fairytale, forever a place of freedom, exploration, and a chance to step out of the world I was so comfortable in and push the timid child within me to come alive. It will always be a forever place… a place that holds my memories.
I Have A Forever Place
As for now, the magnolia will come down, my cousin will do what is needed. He now mans the fort. He holds the key to the place that raised us all. When we are young, we do not comprehend what life is giving us. We complain and we question the place in which we find ourselves, but in time we see how the places handed us our joy and our uniqueness. Mississippi gave me an exceptional childhood, a family worth holding tight to, and memories that have now become a place I can go whenever I’m feeling a bit melancholy or homesick… I have a forever place.
Where is your forever place? Like me, you most likely have many. I’d love to hear your story~
Stay Curious,
3 Responses
This was one of the best she says with a lump her throat. Such sweet memories that seem like yesterday. Slow down time! 😘❤️