Picking Berries

The past month has been a very hard and busy one for my family.  My "Granny Faye" had been battling cancer for the past year or so.  On June 1st she lost that battle. 

 I have some fond memories of my Grandmother.  I can still remember spending my summers and a few winters up at our farm in North Florida with my brothers Joey & John and my cousin Tony.  I can not tell you how many times we drove down to the Helms Grocery Store on those clay dirt roads with our bare feet hanging off the tailgate eagerly waiting to reach the store so we can get a yoo-hoo or other tasty treat. Sometimes I can still see the stain of that red clay on the soles of my feet. Some memories were not very pleasant like the time we built that ramp at the end of the driveway and crashed badly because it so large and at a very steep angle that no sensible child would ever try to make that jump on a BMX bike that they had just hobbled together out of spare parts they found.  I can not remember which one of us crashed badly that day.  Of all the memories the most special to me were all the times I picked blueberries with her.  Those were the best blueberries ever.

Having someone pass is hard especially having to deal with all the funeral arrangements.  Luckily my Grandmother had everything prearranged.  My Brother Joey had the honor of leading the funeral procession. He spent the last year caring for her as she battled cancer.  The last month was especially hard. 

This past month I have reflected back on a lot periods of my life.  Most of them do not really mean much to me anymore.  One thing that did mean a lot to me was all the time I spent up at the Farm with my Granny Faye.  I miss her and the time we spent picking berries.