Laying it down
This was a true labor of love. I had a plan for my backyard project. I had an unruly shrub in the back of my property that I needed torn out and I wanted to put this patio in. I had given myself a set timeline to accomplish these tasks. My parents 45th Wedding Anniversary, so not completing my tasks was not an option. I started it, I had to finish it. I just didn't know how truly hard it would become.
While finishing the tearing out of the unruly shrub at the back of my property, I got the call that my Grandfather died. This very shrub, which was supposed to be a Wisteria tree, is one I had planted with my grandfather. I only had a half an hour more of work to do to complete this task, so I finished throwing the last of the debris into my fire pit. Then I let myself sit and cry. I knew this was coming. My grandfather had been fading, I knew this. However, even though I knew it was coming, I was still rocked by the news.
I had to fly home to Pennsylvania for the funeral. I was able to get a single round trip ticket for around $1000.00. My husband took vacation and stayed home with our three children, since they were on holiday break from school, so I could fly back to my home state of Pennsylvania from Louisiana. My sister flew in from Australia and it all felt so surreal to be riding in the back seat with my sister, while my parents drove us around. It is the strangest feeling to be an adult with children of your own, and then thrown back into your old role as the baby of the family. My sister and I kept looking at each other and giggling at times. She could feel it too. In our grief as a family we were inseparable. Days, hours, meals, just seemed to pass us by. The service was amazing. This is a story in of itself. Then I had to go home.
Getting home was what I had to do. I also had to finish my backyard project. I had already killed the grass. I had a burn pit. The back of the property wasn't any better. The yard looked like how I felt, ripped up, burned, and with some dead spots. I knew my parents would understand if I didn't get it done. They were just with me, they had just went through the ringer emotionally too. I also knew that if I didn't get to work, there was a good chance, I never would get back to it. So I had to lay down my grief and pick up my tools. When my parents arrived a week later, my dad and I finished the edging on the patio together.
