A Lovely Day in Laurinburg

Monday the 29th was the first anniversary of my Papa's death so Drew and I went to Laurinburg, NC with my dear Aunt Mary to put flowers on his grave. We also visited Papa's sweet sister and brother-in-law, my Great-Aunt Irene and Great-Uncle Al. What I anticipated to be a very sad day ended up being a wonderful visit to the town I so enjoyed visiting while growing up. We always lived pretty far away so only got to visit once or twice a year but the trips were always wonderful and we would be spoiled by our sweet Nanny and Papa. I know everyone thinks they have the best grandparents but my sister and I know we were extra lucky! Unfortunately, Nanny passed away while I was in high school but we were fortunate enough to share more time with Papa until a few years ago when Alzheimer's started to take him away little by little. Our trip to Laurinburg got off to a great start when Aunt Mary arrived and we packed the car to head South. We talked and laughed and Drew didn't fail to entertain us...as usual. Aunt Mary and I talked about Papa and how much he adored children. It breaks my heart that he never got to meet Drew. I know they would have loved each other! When we got to Laurinburg we went to Aunt Irene and Uncle Al's house first and had a ball playing in their beautiful garden! Homes & Gardens is missing out by not doing a spread on that place! Drew brought his push lawn mower from cousin Matty (good idea Aunt Mary!) and ran it from one end to the other quite a few times. He thought the stone paths were super fun and loved peaking behind bushes with an energetic "boo-a-boo," his version of Peak-a-Boo. The green house was a huge hit, who knew? He played make-believe in there for quite sometime and then found a broom to sweep the floor. Then he watered some plants and sat on the front porch swing. Oh! I can't forget to mention the game of kickball he watched at an elementary school across the street. He cheered them on with his "Gooooooo ball ball!!" The best part of the day was the fact that Drew seemed to bring as much joy to Aunt Irene and Uncle Al as they did to him. They were so taken aback by his energetic personality and they loved hearing him talk. We all got a huge laugh when he left the room to go #2 in his diaper and then screamed "Mama, Stinky!" from afar. When I asked him to wait a minute he responded with something we couldn't understand but knew it had to be along the lines of "I want it changed now!" Sometimes his tone of voice translates everything. After playing for awhile we left for the cemetery where we planted a beautiful bouquet of red flowers. We all agreed that Papa would be proud of the flowers and how well-kept the gravestone is. That made me both happy and sad. He always kept the gravestone immaculate after Nanny died and we want nothing less for him. After leaving the cemetery, we returned to Aunt Irene and Uncle Al's where we enjoyed a yummy meal from a local seafood place where kids meals cost $1.95, seafood salads cost $4.50 and crab is spelled "krab!" Gotta love small towns :) The grand finale of our visit was a tour of the garage where Drew got to sit in a 1979 Dodge Aspen and I got to reminisce about sitting in the front seat of a similar car with Nanny as a kid, sans car seat. Then Drew found Uncle Al's John Deer riding lawn mower and was thrilled beyond belief that he got to sit on it. I think folks across town heard him repeat "kactor, kactor, kactor!!!" We stopped on the way home in order for Aunt Mary to get Drew a couple of books. She said he was "good as gold" all day and deserved a treat. So sweet!!! What a day! I'm so glad we went and I can't wait to visit again. Papa, I miss you dearly!!! All my love, Your Buddy