Wisdom of the Ages

This afternoon when I went out in the back to check on Dawson, I found him in the backyard about two houses down. I heard his chipper voice chattering away with a neighbor friend of ours.

While he was talking, he was working like crazy picking up pecans out of this neighbor’s yard. The neighbor, a Vietnam Vet and world wide missionary, explained to me that he told Dawson that every time he filled up the pecan picker, he could jump in the giant pile of leaves he had raked up.

As I walked back home listening to my 5 year old relate with joy to someone old enough to be his great grandfather, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I know I've often talked about the great neighborhood I live in but I most often focus on the kids' friends and my friends. I have failed to recognize the gift of wisdom I have in an older generation of neighbors as well.

It's great to have friends who are right in the thick of things with you, who understand what you are going through because they're going through it too. However, it's also wonderful to have friends who look at your life and smile at you and tell you to enjoy these moments because they go by so fast - people who understand you because they've been there and made it to the other side.

These are the moments I try to remember so that one day, when I'm looking at a young mother through older, and hopefully, wiser eyes I will be able to tell her that all her hard work is going to pay off some day, sooner than she knows.