Last week, I shared about growing up on the front porch of my grandfather’s grist mill and forge in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. My childhood memories truly are an amazing gift from God. So much so, that I often wonder if the memories our grandchildren are currently making here in the great state of Mississippi will be equally joyful and amazing.
I often worry that their lives are so much busier than mine was back then. But the truth is, we were busy as well. As the child of a high school coach, I spent just as many hours at school events, on various ballfields, and in gymnasiums as our grandkids do – since they are also children of Mississippi educators.
Much like our grandkids, I also spent my fair share of time visiting back and forth with friends. Maybe the only difference between then and now is that many of my closest childhood friends were cousins, and our grandbabies have missed out on some of that extended family fun.
But I clocked the same number of hours at school and doing homework as our kids currently do. I also wasted way too much time watching television, but I did not have the world at my fingertips – via iPads, cell phones, and computer screens. That wide-open door to technology is an inviting, if not very, very, scary new prospect.
Thankfully, as Mississippi educators, their parents are well-aware of the dangers that run side-by-side with the amazing opportunities the online world offers today’s youth. They are not only tech-savvy, but they are also pretty careful with the technology used by our kids.
Yet even though our grandkids each love being active and spending time outdoors, I cannot help but wonder what they are missing out on from the not-so-hectic or technologically lacking world that I experienced in my childhood.
But yesterday, just as I got all consumed by my worries, I looked out my back door and caught a glimpse of my husband – or Pops, as the grandkids lovingly call him – working in his knife shop (kudzukutters.com). As he silently stood grinding a blade to perfection, something else caught my eye – his forge.
I literally laughed aloud, and for just a moment, I was swept back in time to another day long ago in another forge, back in Chickasaw County in the 1960s.
Wow! Talk about life coming full circle. Sixty years later, I stood watching another Mississippi grandfather – in his forge.
So, I celebrated then and there that not only will our grandchildren have the distinct memories of watching their beloved Pops design and make knives for them from his high-tech, firebrick-lined forge, but they will also have the memories of their great-great-grandfather’s hand-built stone forge as well – even though they never got to meet my Papa or slide down his grist mill, corn bin slide.
I will make sure of that!
All I have to do is continue sharing the stories of my precious Mississippi childhood with our sweet grandkids, and hopefully, with our future great-grandchildren. My stories are the best way to make sure they know about the long line of forges and craftsmen in our family.
And I challenge you to do the same.
Share the stories of our beautiful Mississippi with others. Tell them your favorite tales from your Mississippi childhood, or simply talk about the great memory-making opportunities our state has to offer here and now.
While you’re at it, go ahead and write your stories down for future generations to read. After all, you come from a long line of amazing Mississippi writers. So, add your memories to our state’s written treasure trove of stories. Sixty years from now, there is no telling who will read your words with absolute wonder and joy.
Yes, I know that the prospect of writing for others to read may sound a little scary (or even punny), but forge ahead and tell those tales.
Mississippi memories are waiting to be made and shared!
