Beeville

There are always flowers to pick in the spring

One of the hibiscus plants Granddaddy and I planted
Bluebonnet in their yard (This is TX's state flower for those of you who don't know)
Ethan in the front drive
The kids helping Granddaddy fill in some holes
More helping
Isaac playing in the wonderful Live Oak trees
All of the above pictures are from our week in Beeville this past March.



I mentioned last week that I wasn't sure I would post about my trip to Beeville for my Granddaddy's funeral. Well, I'm going to take a stab at it. This isn't so much about the funeral as it is the place where they live. Beeville is nothing to get excited about--really. It is a small, rather rural community that is about an hour west of Corpus Christi.

Last year my mom passed me the movie 'The Lake House' they had from Netflix. I watched it not really thinking I'd like it. Well, I watched it the next day too. Then I sent it back and that night, in the pouring rain, I drove to Best Buy and bought my own copy. I think that what I love about that movie (and what I love about my favorite series of books {ask me about those some other time}) is that it is a story of love that is not bound by time. I also don't mind that Keanu Reeves is in it:) Anyway, there's a part when the boss of Sandra Bullock's character tells her to get away from the hospital (she's a new doctor) on her day off and go to the place where she feel the most like herself. For some reason, I think Beeville is that place for me.

I mentioned early on in my blogging career that depending on my mood, my response to the question,"So, where are you from?" is either "Everywhere" or "Nowhere". Because my dad was in the military I moved every 3 (or so) years of my life. Continuing on into married life, this address here in Mississippi is the one we have had the longest. We'll have been here 3 years at the end of Feb. But throughout all of my moves, one place has remained the same: my grandparents house in Beeville. Down to the smell, it is the same. It is the place that when I have gone back to visit, things are in the same places. I know where the silverware is without having to look through lots of drawers. The toys that are in the closet out in the 'big room' today are the ones that belonged to my Uncle Miller and that I played with when I was little. It was very surreal when I took my 3 kids to Grandmother and Granddaddy's house before we moved here. It was my first time there as a mother. To have my children playing and discovering the same things that had had meaning to me at their age was just downright bazaar to me.

Before my dad got stationed in Germany (I was 6) we would each get to spend a week at Grandmother's house in the summer. After we got back to the states (when I was 9 and Jason was 11) we would still make the trek from North Dakota and then from Nebraska down to South TX to visit family. Grandmother's house remained unchanged. When I got into middle school, and old enough to fly alone, we got our week alone back. This is when I started going to Camp Bandina with the youth group from Grandmother and Granddaddy's church. I counted the days until it was time to go. I loved and treasured that time.

So I come back to that line from the Lake House. I think that Beeville as a whole and Grandmother's house in particular is so important to me because it is the one place that I can go to that connects my past to my present. When I was there at Thanksgiving, the feelings that washed over me were so immense. I was in the house that was (literally) full of people that I loved. Granddaddy's absence wasn't so tangible to me in the crowd as it was outside in the yard. He loved to be outside, puttering in the carport with all his stuff. He loved to be taking care of the yard and making things grow. I saw the 2 hibiscus plants that he and I planted during this past spring and I was just so sad because...because my Grandmother will move pretty soon to be closer to family and then my one place that has remained the same will be gone. Is that terribly selfish? She needs to be near to Mother or one of my Uncles and she needs to be closer to good medical facilities. I am anxious for her to get this new start. I can't imagine what it will mean to her to leave a place she has lived for 35 years. I know what it will mean to me though.

For some of you, you have deep roots. There are roots that are grounded in people; family and such. I am so blessed to have those kinds of roots. I have a wonderful family that I am grounded in. But some of you also have deep roots that are grounded to a place. I kind of feel like I have one of those, and it's in Beeville, and it will soon be dug up.

So, I hope this hasn't been too depressing to all of you. It is cathartic to be able to write my thoughts down and if you have a word or 2 of wisdom or encouragement, I'd be happy to hear them.

Thanks everyone.
God bless.
D