Awwwwww!!! I love the four seasons we experience in South Carolina!! At the beginning of every season I say it is my favorite. The leaves changing color and the cool nights are a part of fall that I especially love. Yep, it is that time of year, if you live in the state capital, the fair comes to town. After living in Columbia for 26 years I have now come to associate the State Fair with Fall. I love the fair!! I don’t love the rides. LOL!! Most people associate the fair with roller coasters and other thrilling rides but for me that brings EXTREME ANXIETY. I cannot even ride a merry-go-round. I get extreme motion sickness. So for me, the fair means corn dogs, fried cinnamon sugar doughnuts, candied apples, exhibits and running into lots of people I never get to see!! I JUST LOVE THE FAIR!!!!
For the last few years its arrival has made me very sad. With emptying the nest, none of our kids have been here to go. It has taken the fun out of seeing the billboards denoting its arrival! After grieving this change for the last several years, I have watched my friends, who are just ahead of me in life, have renewed interest because they are now grandparents. Now they are enjoying the fair with their grandkids and through them God has given me something to look forward to in the future!!!!
This has also reminded me of the story of my parents making the trip to Columbia to go to the fair with their grandkids years ago. My dad and mom both grew up on a farm. When they came to the fair, the exhibits they were most interested in were the animals and the 4-H show for cows!!!! So, of course, that is what we did!! Our kids were around 8, 6 and 4 and absolutely loved watching the girls and boys show their cows!! It was so fun to watch them circle the ring with the animal they had raised and cared for. When they stopped in front of the judges, they had a long smooth stick in their hand and they would rub the cow’s belly!!! My dad shared that they were rubbing the cow’s belly to make it straighten its back so that it would show better. My kids got a kick out of that!!!! It was so much fun to see my parents and our kids come together and learn, laugh and experience those moments. It was even funnier to come home from the fair that evening to watch Thomas get on all fours and Collins take a stick and rub Thomas’ belly and then watch him straighten his back!! WE all laughed hysterically!!! Kids for sure repeat what they SEE!!!!!!
God is soooooooooo good!! Just recently, while caring for my sick and aging parents, I was reminiscing with my mom. She is very immobile so we sit for many hours sharing and talking about memories we share. It is not easy to make her laugh these days because of the sickness, depression and pain……reminding her of the fair and the kids mimicking the cows made her laugh so hard she had tears!!!!!
This journal post is simple, very simple and a great reminder to all of us. “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.” Proverbs 16:31. And Proverbs 13:22, “Good people leave an inheritance to their Grandchildren…..” I have learned from my parents and my friends who are grandparents……..leaving an inheritance to our grandchildren doesn’t have to be money necessarily. It can be GREAT MEMORIES AND TIME INVESTED and a life lived for Christ!