The Giving House...

If you have never read The Giving Tree, please take a look at the above clip before you read the rest of my blog.  The whole gang came down to Louisville to visit with the fam before we head to Nashville.  Also, today was Caroline's birthday.  We got to celebrate that with Mom, Dad, and Patrick.  While we have only been a here a few days, it has been a great few days.

When we are here we usually like to hike around my the subdivision that I grew up in.  Brooke and some friends tease me and call me Huck Finn due to the stories I sometimes tell about my childhood here.  In my defense, there is a river that runs through this subdivision, there are 70 acres of land, plus  some great woods to hike around in.  Not to mention, across the river there was a HUGE farm to get lost in.  Plenty of places to canoe, fish, shoot things, swim, etc.  Growing up here actually was a little like Huck Finn.  It is such a joy for me to show my girls where their Daddy grew up.  It is great to tell them stories about what I did when I was just a bit older than them.  I had some great summers here with Mickey and Josh.  We would be gone all day, doing all sorts of kid things.  The worst thing our parents had to to worry about was us getting lost in the fields....or the bull across the way.  We were pretty confident we could get across the water back to safety before he could.  The three of us were "Kentucky Wildmen" before it was a toothless wonder on TV.

More importantly to me is to share with the girls this house and my parents.  Both the house and my parents are like the tree in the story above.  The tree loves the boy and gives the boy every thing it could.  Both the house and my parents come alive with joy when we come back, just like the tree.  And each time the boy comes back he was a little bit older and he would asked for a little more.   By the end of the story all that was left of the tree was a stump to sit on.  This worked out well because by then that's all the old "boy" wanted.   I see the same feeling in this house and with my parents.  Each time I come back it looks a little bit older but it never loses the special feeling.  During the summer when we are here the girls swim in our pool all the time. They sleep so well because they are exhausted from all the exercise.  I can't help when I'm watching them in the pool to think of all the summer days I spent in the pool with my friends.  I also can't help but contemplate that if the pool had a soul,  there is no question it would be smiling.  It has been a while since it has had young kids playing in its waters.

Then there is Mom and Dad, pretty much the same applies to them.  They have given and given, and will continue to give until all they have left is a stump for me (us) to sit on.  Watching the girls play in the same places that I played in, with at times the same toys I played with, is exactly what Mom and Dad want.  When I come here, I don't need to swing, I don't need limbs, and I don't need a trunk.  All I need is a stump to sit on to rest my body.  That's exactly what I get here.