Day 115: The Swing

There was a swing set in our backyard. It was made of wood. Our grandfather made it and my sister and I swang. We swang almost every day. I don’t remember anything without that swing. We never added onto it, but we never thought to ask. Grass grew tall around the posts where dad neglected to mow. The chains squeaked and it was a weekly ritual to get the ladder out of the garage to spray some WD-40 on the eye bolts. It’d be fine for a while, but my sister and I swang so damn much it didn’t matter.

We swang less as we got older. You know, with homework and sports and dances and boys and things. But when times were tough we would head for the swing. It was always our spot, either together or on our own, to find some quiet in the world. There were cornfields all around us, so finding quiet wasn’t tough. But the swing brought calm somehow. Something about the wind blowing through your hair, legs pumping, and feeling that rush in your stomach every decent. Even when things were great we would head to the swing. To chat or just sit. Just to enjoy the world bobbing up and down.

When our parents sold the house, I didn’t think about the swing much. I was done with college and moved to the next town over that had more movie theaters and fast food. The folks wanted something smaller for retirement and spent the rest of the money on a boat. Sis joined the Marines and we barely saw her. She was stationed in Germany for a stretch, and then Japan, and then on the Mexico border. She wanted to be closer to home, but she didn’t want to be too close.

By that time I had three kids. Two girls and one boy. Blessings from above when they weren’t curses from Hell. But you gotta love ‘em. The husband is pretty nice too. I’m just being facetious. He’s great. Life is good. We got a minivan and all. Gymnastics on Wednesdays and soccer on Saturdays. Vacations to Florida every other summer. And we don’t live too far from the folks. They like to see the kids.

We bought them a jungle gym to play in. They loved it for a while, but they’re growing up too. They never did swing as much as sis and I. Heck, neither do I now. I bought the swing addition thinking that I would find that spot again. Sure, I’ll swing and watch the world bob up and down while cars drive by and horns honk in the distance. But it’s not the same. I miss the silence. I miss my sister.

She said she was going to move back to town next year. She put in enough years that she’ll get a nice check each month. Good for her. One of us got to have an adventure. We both talked about it and one of us did it. The other when on the straight path to parenthood. Marriage. All that TV stuff. You don’t know where your life goes. Maybe it’s the same for everyone wherever we go. We wake up one day and finally realize that this is it. There are no second chances so you better enjoy the choices you made. I don’t know. I tell the kids all the time to enjoy the moment. They don’t know how good they got it.

I hope my sister moves back to the country. Surrounded by farms. And buys a swing. We will sit there in silence, swinging our feet in circles, and remember the times when we thought about the future.