The Duffy Family

REJOICING IN THE MEMORIES

The weekend of the 21st, my Dad's side of the family all met at my Grandmother's (better known as "Ma") house. She and Pa have owned this farm land longer than I have been alive. We spent many a summer in the country doing things that not all grandkids get to do with their grandparents. We rode the fourwheeler, went fishing, cleaned and fried those fish we caught, fed the cows (that were affectionately named after each one of us-ha!) corn cobs, chased the goats, tied string to the legs of "june bugs" and "flew" them, swung on the tire swing and so, so much more! I have so many fond memories of the country and more importantly of time spent with my Ma and Pa. This weekend was special because my Grandmother turned 81. We were all there to celebrate with her. It was also special because it was the first time we had all been together (besides Christmas) since Pa entered into heaven almost one year ago. In so many ways, it seems like this past year has flown by, and in others, it's been so long. So much has happened since he died. The greatest being his three newest great grandchildren: Leo, Ava, and Noah. Oh how he would have loved them!

I am grateful because throughout this year my children have not forgotten their great grandad. I'm sure the day will come when their memories begin to grow fuzzy, but for now, they remember and that in itself is precious. No one was afraid to speak his name that weekend and in fact, it brought comfort just to talk about the memories and fun times we had. Here are a few memories we created that weekend:

This is the entire family standing at the gate that leads to the pasture.
Ma and her great grands: Eli (4), Ella Kate (3), Leo (1), Ava (8 months), and Noah (6 weeks). Getting this picture was a feat in itself! You have never seen so many adults making silly faces and noises to get everyone looking relatively close to the camera :)
This is one of Eli's favorite things to do while in the country. I think I have a picture of him on the 4wheeler every time we went out there. You could watch him grow up just in those pictures!
Ella Kate loves the 4wheeler too!
However, she's not so the tomboy that she'll touch a frog :)
But she will spit on crickets!!! This is actually a funny story. Pa used to tell us all that if you spit on the cricket, the fish will bite faster. Papa told this story to the kids and of course they HAD to spit on every cricket!

I was so proud of Brian! He learned how to bait a hook and take the fish off this weekend! His dad loves to fish and would be proud too no doubt :)
Apparently, spitting on the cricket worked...very fast! Everytime they tossed the hook out, the fish took it immediately!
Eli loved the carrier with the crickets in it.
Eli was quite the fisherman as well!

The last time we were out there to visit before Pa died, he took the kids fishing for the first time. I will always be grateful that Eli and Ella Kate had the opportunity to do something with him that I did with him so many times. One funny thing is that Pa would hold Ella Kate's shirt so she didn't fall into the pond. When we told the kids that we were going out there for the weekend Ella's response was..."Who's gonna hold my shirt cause Pa's in heaven!"

Memories...both powerful and precious