Emerging Brawn

Reader Contribution by Sherry Leverich Tucker
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As a mother, I have cherished the time with my children. I remember having babies in my arms and small hands nestled in mine. Raising three boys that are about two years apart made for a challenging few years. Seems like I was either dressing or undressing, cleaning up spills, buckling in and toting someone around forever! But, I miss those little voices, reading bedtime stories and being able to grab them in mid-run and placing them on my hip.

My oldest is 15 now and bigger than me. He occasionally picks me up, as I yell, “Put me down!” I think he kind of enjoys that the mom that used to be able to physically stop him in his tracks is now petite in comparison to his structure. When he was smaller, he would gripe about a chore that was hard for him to do; maybe it required lifting something he thought was heavy, or working at a task that would physically push him. It is interesting to see the transformation – that once heavy 50 pound bag of feed is nothing for him to move and lift now.

The other day, my oldest, Noah, and his friend, Nick, helped pull up all the t-post in the hoop house. I used the post for staking last years spring crop of tomatoes. Oh, those tomatoes were so big, juicy and yummy (sorry, I get distracted too easily by the thought of summer tomatoes). Anyways, you can see Noah using the old tool we have for pulling up post. It’s nothing more than a lever action puller. But, it is an old, heavy duty tool that has stood the test of time. If it weren’t for it, every post would have to be pushed on and jerked about until it could be pulled out among all the rocks and packed soil that keeps it embedded tightly in the ground.

After they removed and stacked all the posts, Noah and Nick went down the hill behind the house and split a pile of wood…just for the fun of it. Yes, I think I can get used to having teenage boys. No longer am I buttoning coats and tying shoe laces. Now I am washing large loads of jeans and cooking massive amounts of food (good thing we have a freezer of home-grown meats!). Seeing men emerge from boys is something I will cherish as much as seeing each one of them lose their first baby tooth and read their first book. So, along this trail we shall keep traveling, enjoying every moment along the way. Fond of the memories, looking forward to the future, but living in the moment – thankful for every breath we are allowed to share.

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