Making Sausage

It has been said that raising children is like making sausage-it is a very messy process but everyone enjoys the final product.  As parents of now adult children, and grandparents, I can see that say that adage speaks volumes of truth.  Ed and I so enjoy and being with our adult children...our final products.  We see how our hard work on our “recipe” for raising children has paid off.  George and Lauren are their own unique blends, but have some of the same basic ingredients...and as my mother use to often say, “her children were her best work”.  I agree.  During this extended stay in the Mountains of North Carolina, both Lauren and George have relived some of the seasonings (memories) that were added during their childhood.  Childhood memories that may have been a little messy, less Instagram or Facebook noteworthy now, probably a little cheesy in that moment have turned into mellow memories of growing up and being part of our small family...it is part of their final product.  

As grandparents, we can sit back and watch the next generation of sausage being made.  Is it messy?  You betcha!  It is loud, chaotic, exhausting and joyful.  Being the Alphas we are, Ed and I often times have to remind ourselves it is not our sausage and not our recipe...put your spoon (opinions) back in the drawer unless and until it is asked for.  Lauren and Drew are molding their children (sausages) and we are fortunate to be part of the process...  There is a window of time between toddlerhood and middle school when grandparents, aunts and uncles have a unique opportunity to be the Unami (that special flavoring that is not the sweet, sour, salty or bitter-more savory) that gives the sausage that special depth flavor.  After that time, they realize how old we are...our seasoning then may not be as impactful on the final product.  

This last week was a big heaping tablespoon of Unami in the Recipe of Eli, Grace and Lucy.  In this rustic mountain cabin, with furniture that could not be destroyed (but cushions made for great Fort building), we made memories...straight out of both Drew’s and Lauren’s childhoods...We played in the stream by the house for hours, collected and threw rocks and sticks, made believe that Indians (excuse me, Native Americans) had once used the stream and its secret hiding places, caught salamanders (including a toxic one-thanks, wiki) and crawfish in buckets and strainers from the dollar store and sat in chairs in the cool green grass with both sets of grandparents until the sun went down.  There was fishing-guided, unguided, unscripted, and at a trout farm.  Hikes in woods, up mountains, across swing bridges.  There was mining for gems and panning for gold, tomahawk throwing (yes, we let Eli throw a real ax—-he is actually pretty good), and bubble blowing.  Trips to old-time Mast General Store with Candy barrels and old time games and toys.  At night back at the cabin there were puzzles, rubber band guns wars and spontaneous games of Charades accompanied by a lots of giggles and belly laughter.  Drew’s parents came down from Bristol (70 miles north) and we all went to Tweetsie Railroad and Park.  It is some of the seasoning from Drew’s childhood.  All 9 of us made memories there.  Simple old fashioned fun.  Not crowded, not hot, not high tech a little corny in a world that has become far to cynical...a little bit of heirloom seasoning from a kinder simpler time.  Each grandparent took turns riding rides with the three kids..no favorites here, not sure which kids had the most fun—the young or oldest.  Ed was thrilled that Grace is a “rider” the faster, higher, dizzier the better.  Tom was already planning on Eli and Grace going to Dollywood their next visit as it is all roller coaster all the time and Kim is not a rider....like me.  Ed was all bright eyed at that thought!  Boys will be boys.  

It is Saturday—-Lauren, Drew and the kids are headed back to Hot, Hot, Houston—-our the rustic little cabin is quiet again, our muscles are a little stiffer, the floor a little stickier, but our hearts (and phone cameras) are full of warm and sweet memories...those kisses, hugs and unconditional love that we receive from those three little beings that  make being part of the messy process all worthwhile.