It is officially summer! Graduations, celebrations, reunions, and picnics are taking place all over America. Watermelons are ripening, and corn grows tall in the sunshine. I always view this season as one made for children. They can laugh freely, run with wild abandon, and embrace their imaginations. If adults did the same, we would spread more joy.
My granddaughter recently visited on her way home to Florida after finishing her sophomore year of college. As she approaches her twentieth birthday, she realizes her childhood is slipping away.
“Can you believe you’re halfway through college?” I exclaimed joyfully when she arrived.
A sad expression crossed her face as she replied, “Grandma, don’t remind me. I don’t want the fun to end!”
I laughed but felt a nagging sadness as her idea of being “grown-up” felt daunting.
Yes, the adult American experience can often be overwhelming, filled with anxiety and sorrow. We never know what the next day will hold or what unfortunate events may be lurking around the corner, which leads us to worry and fret. But what good does that do?
We are so wrong to abandon our youthfulness. Our ability to laugh out loud, use our imagination, and explore our dreams should never be given up to adulthood. Hope for a greater tomorrow should not stop until God tells us we are finished.
Years ago, when I was in elementary school, we lived across the street from what Mom called “an old grouchy woman.” I labeled her just plain old “mean.”
She lived alone in a lovely house on a large corner lot. If a ball or a dog wandered into the property, she bolted out her door, yelling, “Get off my yard!”
The school bus stop was on the corner, and one morning, a little boy’s dog ran after him as he hurried to catch the bus. Just as the pup started racing toward his owner, the school bus turned the corner and hit the dog.
The severely injured dog ran into the “grouchy woman’s” yard, where he died in the boy’s arms. We all were crying, including the bus driver, when “mean lady” yelled, “Get that dog off my yard!”
I shared this story years ago in another column, but it is important to share it again. The scene from that day made me promise to never forget the joy of my youth, to avoid complaining, and to steer clear of becoming a bitter old woman whose lack of happiness and compassion causes pain to others.
Our responsibility is to provide the children of summer with the promise of a brighter future. Our actions and attitudes shape children’s lives. If we lack hope, our youth will also see no hope. They lose their sense of fun when we are not filled with laughter and joy.
When we engage in bullying, they will likely do the same. What are we thinking when we express bias? Do we not realize that racism is passed down from one generation to the next?
We contribute to hatred when we allow ourselves to be consumed by it. Our outbursts and judgments resonate not only with God but also with the children who hear our words.
So, do we want to pass down our hope and happiness, or do we prefer to leave behind our resentment for our children and grandchildren?
“Aging should never take away our cheer.”
My great-grandmother, Mollie, weighed about 88 pounds her entire life and was quite wonderfully stubborn. One Sunday, during a family picnic at a park, she watched the children as they slid down the slide and rode the merry-go-round. As their laughter filled the playground, she announced, “I’m going down that slide!”
Eighty-year-old Mollie carefully climbed the ladder’s steps, but after sliding down, she landed hard on the ground. Mollie winced in pain, and when she couldn’t get up, she realized she had broken her hip.
An ambulance came, and all my great–grandmother said was, “Shoot, I didn’t get to ride the merry-go-round!”
Mollie’s beauty was her ability to transmit youthfulness and hope to the next generation, teaching them that grouchiness and complaining were unholy.
I honored my commitment to nurturing the child within me because my family taught me how. People prioritizing their home, property, and money over a child’s well-being will never understand such wealth.
As you watch the children squeal delightfully, playing with wild abandon in the summer sun, try to find the child within you and join in. Aging should never take away our cheer.
I often wonder if Mollie ever regretted her only ride down a slide. Knowing her, I sincerely doubt it. I hope a merry-go-round awaited her when she reached Heaven’s door where her joy will never end.
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Lynn Walker Gendusa is a Tennessee-raised, Georgia-residing author and columnist. Her latest book is “Southern Comfort: Stories of Family, Friendship, Fiery Trials, and Faith.” She can be reached at www.lynngendusa.com. For more of her inspirational stories, click here.
