It's been mentioned for a couple of years. Then our days and lives kept moving forward and it stayed. It held memories for all of us. It held a space in our yard. It might have kept our hearts young but the reality was it sat vacant. We had taken down a portion a little while back because it wasn't safe.
Yesterday I sat outside under some shade in some sweltering summer heat and read. My husband decided today was the day the playground was coming down. I watched him work on it for a bit of time. Unscrewing bolts, pulling boards off, and sorting them into piles. Then I watched our youngest, a sophomore in high school come out to help. She turned around frequently with a pouty lip and big understanding eyes. As I listened in, every screw removed from this point on was followed with a comment, "look - this screw is half the length it should be, they are rotting and it's unsafe."
My heart started to feel sad. I didn't think it would. I started to remember packing trays with our lunches and crawling up there in the summer with two girls then three. I remembered buying the plastic steering wheel for the oldest and she had it turned into a pirate ship, much like Captain Hooks. Then I began to hear, "look - this screw is half the length it should be, they are rotting and it's unsafe."
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The unsafe playground needed to be taken down. The sweet memories from the playground are safely stored for a long time.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very sad moment! I have a hard to detaching from things that hold memories of my children. But, it has to be done, right?
ReplyDeleteA poignant slice that captures the bittersweet reckoning with the passage of time and its traces. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteChange is hard. I remember when we tried to make it through a Christmas Eve without Dad reading The Night Before Christmas and Mom reading the Bible story. We were all grown up. We shouldn't have needed it. We got Dad out of bed to complete the ritual just one more time.
ReplyDelete"It held memories for all of us." I love these words from your slice. Of course, your heart felt sad. I love the image of you and the girls up in the structure with lunch and playing pirates. All transitions are challenging and this physical removal of something that's been in your life for so long is no different.
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