The Driveway to Grandmother's House

I love trees and gravel driveways. When I saw this picture, it reminded me of the driveway that leads to my grandparents' house. Their driveway was gravel, and had overhanging trees that lined it from the road, up to the house. I have a lifetime of happy memories surrounding this driveway...as a very young child, I loved to walk on the gravel and listen to it crunch...to pick up the gravel pebbles and throw them at the metal sign that hung from the pasture fence. More than 40 years later, the sound of a car turning onto a gravel drive still reminds me of every car that turned into my grandparents' driveway...signaling a visitor...and perhaps something exciting to hear about or learn...maybe it was a favorite aunt and uncle, or cousins. Many times, it was a nearby farmer, coming to discuss cows with my Grandaddy, or to buy hay...the business visitors were always a disappointment to me, because there wasn't anything for me in the deal.

It's interesting to me, and poignant too, the things we remember about childhood, and about the people that we love. I remember how my Grandaddy walked...a tall man, 6'5", with very long legs...he had the most graceful gait...as a farmer, he was unusually well dressed for work every day...perfectly pressed khaki pants with matching shirt, and cordovan brown dress shoes...I can see him in my mind's eye like it was yesterday. He only changed the shoes for boots when he was working in the barn area...but when he was in the fields, or on the tractor, he had on dress shoes. I loved the sound of his shoes hitting the gravel drive that surrounded the area between the house and the barn...I used to follow him around from one task to another...just to be close to him. Years later, after my Grandaddy had been dead for several years, a family friend told me that my grandparents were two of the most loved and respected people in the entire county...I believe it. They were both people of enormous character and generosity...their house was always open to anyone...and that is precisely why there was so much traffic on the gravel driveway...people have a tendency to come when they know that they are always welcome.