My 63 year old wife Annette and one of our grandsons, 10 year old Connor Mack, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today sitting in the tree tops in a fort she has had built overlooking horses in two of our pastures.
And, as usual, I smiled.
This is no ordinary tree fort. That would not do. It actually surrounds a pair of side by side oak trees with two rooms that are connected with a swing bridge. And, because it is Christmas time and this is a gift to all of our six grandchildren, it is wrapped in green garland touched off by a wreath and a big red bow.
Connor Mack is one of the triplets. The other two are Coleman and Ashton. When Connor Mack saw the finished fort late yesterday afternoon he gave the enthusiastic and appreciative response his Nana had anticipated. And, after riding the tire swing and failing to scale the rope climb, he speculated that his ten year old sister Ashton could make it all the way up. "She's good that that stuff," he said.
The other triplets, along with their 14 year old brother Carson, will see the tree fort, tire swing and rope climb later in the week. Two other grandchildren, 7 year old Mack and 5 year old Bret, may have to wait until summer. They have just moved with their mom and dad this past week from nearby Jacksonville to far away Philadelphia.
But, this is not about the tree fort or the tire swing or the rope climb, or even our grandchildren. It is more about me smiling.
I get to do that a lot, which is a very good thing. I am absolutely convinced that smiling and laughing contribute to a longer life. Certainly it is foundational to a happy life.
And, around Spirit Woods Farm, out little horse place here on a state forest in west central Florida, and with my wife Annette, I find that I am enveloped in so many things that cause me to smile.
Take last Thursday night.
Because there is so much work to do when you have a farm, we have some help. His name is Ceasar, and he is from Mexico. Over the last several months, Ceasar has become very important to what we want to do, and who we want to be. In some ways, he is almost like family, and we feel very fortunate that he came into our life. Ceasar is a tremendous help to Annette and has a great loyalty to her. He will do anything for her...mostly because he knows she will do anything for him. He has a full time job and comes here on afternoons and weekends.
Ceasar has three young children, and often he brings them to the farm with him when he comes to work. There is 12 year old Little Ceasar, 8 year old Maria, and 7 year old Princess. I swear that is her name. They are all three cute, courteous and smart. And, like their father, they have a serious work ethic, especially for children.
Ceasar speaks little English, although he is very legal. But, his children go from English to Spanish to English with the ease that I count to ten. And often they serve as interpretors. However, somehow Annette has learned to communicate with Ceasar as if they've developed a language of their own.
When Ceasar's childen are here on our farm, Annette makes sure they have fun.
The three of them attach themselves to her as if they are an extra set of arms. It is "Ms. Annette" this and "Ms. Annette" that. Over and over and over. She talks, they listen. They ask, she answers.
And, last Thursday night Annette and I had a Christmas "fiesta" for Ceasar and his three young children. I mostly just showed up and had fun. Annette spent hours over days shopping and wrapping gifts for all of them. And, she cooked burritos for dinner.
It was a wondrous night. The children were talkative and excited...and grateful. Ceasar left our screen room where we were partying to go and cry in private because of his pride and his appreciation. He loves his children and is a terrific father.
Because it was a school night, about 8 o'clock Ceasar and his children climbed into Ceasar's old truck and headed out toward their home, taking their gifts with them and leaving my smiles and memories with me.
Shortly after they were gone, we had different guests.
You see, we also have a now a 16 year old young lady who spends a lot of time at our house; sometimes 3 and 4 days a week. Her name is Lisa and she lives in Tampa with her parents. Lisa has 5 brothers and sisters.
She is here for 3 reasons. She loves horses and we have them. She loves Annette and I have her. And, her parents let her come stay with us.
Unlike Ceasar and his children, Lisa's story is not one of economic difficulty or uncertaintity. Far from it.
Like Ceasar, however, she has come into our lives and has become very important to how we are and what we want to be.
Late in the day last Thursday, Lisa's 19 year old brother Robert brought her to the farm for a five day visit. Like most 19 year old boys with a cool car, Robert also had a couple of young ladies with him. After getting Lisa here, the four of them visited with us a short while, then Robert took all of the girls, including Lisa, with him to dinner while we had our Christmas fiesta with Ceasar and his children.
After Ceasar and the chidren were gone, Annette and I sat in our swing in the screen room and had a glass of wine, and we smiled. That was great fun, we thought. Those are wonderful children, we thought. How do we help them more, we asked?
And, we took a deep breath and tought about going inside and getting ready for bed.
That's when Lisa and her brother and his two lady (read that girl) friends drove up. No way, I thought, do they want to hang out with us and visit. Robert lives one hour away and he had to deliver his two friends after letting off Lisa.
Wrong.
The four of them came into the screen room, and there we sat with these young people. It was wonderful. We talked and we laughed and we swapped stories. And, as I sat there in my swing, looking out over the heads of these young friends, I saw the white of our Christmas lights and I listened to the Christmas music playing softly in the back ground.
I thought about what a wonderful day we had. I thought about a wonderful live we live.
And, I smiled. Once again.
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