Most of my childhood spring through fall memories are in this place. Fruits and vegetables, Cider , home made ice-cream and the worlds best home made fresh hot donuts. The donuts and ice-cream were the best; Strawberry or raspberry in the summer and pumpkin in the fall. Oh, it just brings a tear to me. 4 generations of us women have gone there to pick the goods that nourished our family. There is just my mom and I left now and we missed the entire spring and summer picking seasons. The announcement was made last week that they are selling. Mostly because the grandchildren don't want to take it over and the old man is tired and ready to retire. Him and his wife, god rest, were always there. The old man has to be old, he was old and his children all grown up when I was a child. Sticky face and fingers nicking candies in the farm store.
It is as though a part of me is dieing again, you see my grandma died about 5 years back and I haven't been able to force myself back up there. It was always our place; she my mom and I would go up there for a long day and pick things and have the next to sit in a warm glowing kitchen where life was good and loving and wonderful. Even when I was young and not good for too much in the kitchen grandma always made sure I was learning and able to try things and do even if I was sure to mess it up terribly. It was her opinion that there was only one way to learn to can and make jelly and all the other things that one must know, in her opinion, to run an efficient family and kitchen. You see we have a matriarchal family, we women run it we women provide for it. Not that we do not love our men it is just that for a long time where my family come from black men died young and the women are left to take care of things. I only had one grandfather when I was born, and he was very old and married in later as one of my grans second husband, but I had 3 Grandmas larger than life strong as the hand of a goddess and powerful as a moving storm.
That farm has the memories of all of them, for I have lost all 4 throughout my days, and one day I shall lose my mother too. I was not prepared at this time to lose the links that I had to their memories.
