Our world is alive. All things that live continually grow in some manner from the lowest single cell mass to the most evolved, highly intelligent being. So it is even with the typical family. In the thirties my mother and father united and a family began to grow or emerge. My own family growth started in 1968 when I married my wife. Three children, twelve grandchildren and so far three great-grandchildren present the line of growth we have experienced.
I have a fourteen year old grandson that lives with me. I have always tried to be a positive influence for him and felt proud for him to look up to me as role model. Things have changed; I now look up to him since he has grown to a towering six inches above me. I wonder what the limits of his growing will be. I ask him what it feels like to grow so tall so fast. He replies he doesn’t feel it, it just happens.
When I was young, my father and I planted small trees in our yard. I now drive by the old place and look at the giant shadow they cast after fifty-five years of growing. I lived in Nebraska for a short time. Quiet summer evenings we could sit outside and actually hear the corn grow. It was amazing. Years ago, to prevent erosion, a plant called kudzu was imported and planted along the roadways in Alabama, where I now reside. You can literally see the kudzu grow if you watch closely. Nature is amazing.
Every spring we repeat the same ritual in our yards. We clean the winter’s reminders from the lawn, fertilize and religiously water so the grass will grow. Then we mow. We cultivate the flower beds and bushes so they will grow, then trim them. The cycle continues: water, grow, and mow. It’s never ending creating more labor to be performed, yet we steadfastly continue.
My waist line continues to grow without any emphasis being placed on it to do so. Every morning I start the day by shaving the beard that has grown overnight without any encouragement. I don’t feel it grow, it just does. We all try to find the best barber or hair stylist to keep our locks groomed and looking what we consider nice because it keeps right on growing. One recent evening my wife was talking about the difficulty finding someone that can cut her hair as she wants them to do it. And so far has very little success. Her conversation continued “why don’t we feel our hair grow?” That is what has caused this latest musing.
I once wrote a poem about hair, thin hair and why thin hairs so hard to part. This is just another unanswered question of nature. Maybe this thin, white hair is unruly, but at least I still have some. I’m glad things grow and mature. Life would be very dull if we all, and everything, just stayed as we started out. What an eerie feeling if we felt every cell as it grew.
I’ll close with one thought. My love for life continues to grow every day. Each person I meet is a growth spurt. I love the changes of the season and all its colors. Once again I prepare myself for additional growth about the waistline with the coming holidays. I hope you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving and experience a growth of friends and good food.
A sign of growth in one’s life is the capability of accepting oneself and the challenges handed to you. Politics is ever changing, entertaining and temporary. Life is a gift and a chance to grow.
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