Megan’s Clouds
With passing birthdays that Dennis and I have enjoyed, our needs are minimal and having nothing to do with material items. Each year we seem to live a bit more minimalistic. It feels good. The “extras” that we do have in our home are these: that we have an emotional attachment to our own personal history, the handmade items from family, or those that have come from my creativity.
Families know that our Christmas is a celebration of knowing that those self same families are safe, happy and being good to each other. That’s all we wish for and that is what we want Santa to assure us with. Our request is that being thought of is all the gift that we need and we really feel good when family members honor that.
As Dennis and I ruminate over family members during the course of the year we keep our eyes and ears open. We get the biggest bang out of doing for some that we hope will be surprised. We can feel like Santa Claus!
At Megan and Nicholas’ home on Saturday after having enjoyed a good meal, the time went to visiting about what was going on in their schedules. I could not keep up with it, I can tell you straight out. It seemed ages ago when we could have either one of the two kids or both of them for a period of several days. As soon as the kids hit school age, the trips to get them from Eden Prairie became less. We never minded the miles on the highway, we were scoring time with the kids. Carrie and Jeremy had just as many miles under their belts as we did. Priceless.
The afternoon was winding down when Megan came to me with a white bag. “Grammie, this is from me to you.” I was blown away and touched to the bottom of my Grammie heart. Inside the bag was a ceramic rendition of a cloud factory.
Megan’s Cloud Factory
Believe me there is a story behind this: Megan was born in a December. The summer of the next year, Megan could come and stay without a worry or a bother to her in getting homesick. Granted, it is a long two hour drive when the little squirmy butt is tied down in a car seat with only mile after mile going by the window in the backseat of our car. It wasn’t long in that summer that there were two and three word sentences coming from the backseat. Cruising down Minnesota State Highway 60, out of the backseat came “Cloud factory!” Dennis and I looked at each other. “Look! Cloud factory.” Megan spotted the sky full of the steam billowing out of the stacks of the ethanol plant right out of Lake Crystal. Well . . . from then on it was dubbed “The Cloud Factory.” When Nicholas came along in their family and they would both be in the backseat coming to our home, you know he was tipped off when we were getting close to “The Cloud Factory.”
Megan Lena turned 15 on December 2nd, which is my Mom Lena’s birthday. Somewhere when her and her mom were out and about, there to her amazement was a cloud factory just meant to be found by Megan. “The Cloud Factory” will be the most treasured “extra” in our home for as long as I live. That little piece of ceramic can evoke more memories than a small library. I took the card that was with it and the back of that card now has a synopsis of its special meaning. I tucked that card in the hollow of ‘The Cloud Factory” for it to remain there forever. Not to worry, I will be building my stash of memories that will involve everyone of my family for years to come. Some of those memories when I share them, bring a light in their eyes of awareness. It is in their library of memories as well. Priceless!