The Wall

Deep down in the corner of the basement of my grandparents house, lit by the perfect pull switch light that just adds that little something, rests THE WALL. Ever since I can remember, whenever we had a family gathering, we wrote on THE WALL. The cousins would sneak down and write funny things or a little memory of the event which was currently taking place in bright markers or crayons we found in grandma's kitchen somewhere. There are little pencil marks to show how tall each of the cousin's were each year. Little notes adorn THE WALL, like "Josh is a weenie" or "Family Reunion '99. So fun!" etc. I was back at my grandparents house a few weekends ago for my dearest cousin's wedding. We are only a year apart; we have always been so close. It was so strange to watch her take this big step in life; I couldn't help but wonder, "does this mean we're grown up now? If we can get married and be away from our families and our wall with all of our special notes on it?" So that night I crept into the basement to read the wall. There were scribbles and markings I hadn't noticed before; ones from my parents, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, that were so grown up from our little kid scribbles. It was such a contrast of adulthood and childhood all meshed into one big mosaic. I guess it just got me thinking about how much we all change and grow and learn, and that even though we sometimes don't think it will or can, things somehow change and we make it through the hard times and pass through the happy times even faster, and life just keeps on keepin on. But the one constant thing we have is our families. As the day of giving thanks approaches, I feel especially grateful for all of those people in my life who I am blessed enough to call family.