All Gone But the Memories

The "Before" Picture

It has been a bittersweet day which started out with a bang. . .and a beep, beep . . .and a crash!  "What is going on out there?" ran through my mind until I realized the concrete crew we had hired to replace our sidewalks had begun the deconstruction phase of the project.  First to be removed were big chunks of sidewalk.

Then they progressed to taking down the little deck outside our front door, railing and steps.  Soon the only thing left was the dirt they would rebuild on.

 

As I visited with one of the workers, I commented there were a lot of memories packed into those pieces they had removed.  Somewhere around forty years of memories.  How many times were those steps used to access our home and by how many different people?  I thought of our parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles and scores of relatives and friends who came to visit and left by those stairs.  I thought of our children learning to walk up and down them, and then in more recent years our grandchildren doing the same.  If concrete steps could talk, they would have lots of stories to tell!

 

Crossing my mind was a memory of the time a little fawn wondered into our yard in the evening and a curious little girl and boy came out onto the steps to investigate.

 

I thought of countless dozens of petunias which had added a splash of color in the adjacent planters during the summer months.  At Christmas it was a Nativity scene which graced the same planters.  Artificial flowers filled them with autumn colors in the fall and welcome colors of spring when it was not yet warm enough for the real thing.

As I looked back, I also thought ahead to the completion of the project and how different things will be.  The stairs will descend to the west instead of to the south to avoid the inevitable patch of ice which seemed to accumulate every winter.  A broader base will provide the foundation for a small deck with space for a couple of chairs to relax in.  It will take some thinking and planning, but factored into the new layout will be a means to continue planting petunias and displaying the Nativity Scene.  It will be a "work in progress" for a time, but hopefully, when completed, it will be the source of many more memories in the years to come.

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

and He will establish your plans."

~Proverbs 16:3