Summer holds so many special memories for me. As a child I spent a lot of time at family gatherings. My mother’s family was especially large, she had 67 first cousins! So there were always relatives visiting from somewhere in Texas, and all those who had made their way west and were living in California, would gather to welcome them, eat lots of good food, swap stories, sing, talk some more, eat some more, and if you were lucky enough to be a child, play all afternoon uninterrupted because the adults were too busy laughing and talking and eating to care about what you were doing.
Whenever the gathering happened to be at my Aunt Rhoda’s home, I knew the afternoon would include two things: homemade ice cream and a trip to the neighborhood park to swing on the tallest swing I had ever seen. I could spend hours on that swing, climbing through the air up into the trees and overlooking rooftops so that I felt like a bird soaring through the air. Sometimes someone would notice how high my swing was going and call out “too high” and I would have to slow my swinging down until they were busy talking again and didn’t notice.
There was something about swinging that felt exhilarating and calming all at the same time. So I made a mental note that someday when I had my own home I wanted to have a swing that would be ever at the ready for any child who wanted that glorious experience.
Since I’ve been married, we have always had a swing of some kind in our back garden but when my grandchildren were born I found the perfect swing for little ones. My sweet husband found just the right limb in our big old tree and secured the robes to hold it and in no time it was up and ready.
It is a wooden chair swing with a safety bar across the front that doesn’t allow the children to fall out when gliding through the air. And glide through the air they have, nearly every day since it went up 8 years ago. It was originally painted white but has become weather-worn with age. The children love it. Every child who comes into the garden seems to make a beeline for the swing. They wait impatiently for their turns at birthday parties and family gatherings. What I love the most about this swing are the sweet giggles that only a child full of delight can make that come sailing through the air falling on everyone in earshot.
My niece Ashley asked me the other day where I got the swing because she wants one too. Then it came to me that if I love having this swing for my grandchildren, nieces and nephews and other little friends, there just might be others of you out there that would enjoy the sight and sounds of childlike delight that these pieces of wood fashioned into a swing would bring to you as well.
I had long since forgotten the name of the place it came from, but I did a little research and found a swing like it on line. If you have children and a tree to hang a swing from, you just might want one too.
Whether you decide to buy a swing like this or not, I hope soon this summer you may hear those same sweet squeals of delight and know again this kind of childhood joy. Childhood is fleeting but there are memories to be made that will last a lifetime. It isn’t just a swing, it is one of those small things that can so easily contribute to a more abundant life full of love and joy.
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