15 September 2012

. . . jump . . .

. . . christmas 1984 . . .
. . . almost twenty-eight years ago . . .
. . . the year after 
santa brought a swing set, 
he somehow managed 
to fit a trampoline 
in his sleigh 
and drop it off 
at our house . . . 

. . . for billy . . .


. . . and the kids . . . 
. . . including amelia, 
alisse and maggie . . .


. . . and drew and brad . . . 
{in the interest of full disclosure, i just realized this photo was, in fact, 
taken on the sherwood's trampoline. not ours. 
but it very easily could have been taken on ours.}


. . . there is family history
in the trampoline . . .
. . . this is the trampoline 
where amelia 
took an unfortunate bounce 
and ended up 
with pins in her elbow . . .
. . . chris and amber 
were jumping on this trampoline 
when he proposed . . . 

. . . but my little children 
have all grown up . . .
. . . they all have little children 
of their own . . . 
. . . and they are 
the meanest parents! . . .
. . . they will not let my grandkids 
jump on the trampoline . . .
. . . something about it 
making their feet all black . . .
. . . are you kidding me? . . .
. . . do they know 
how many little dirty feet 
have had a great time jumping? . . .
. . . they are so not fun . . .
. . . so this awesome vintage trampoline
 sits unused 
on the side of our house . . . 


. . . gathering leaves . . . 


. . . and pine needles . . . 
. . . so, i decided i'd just show 
those mean kids of mine . . . 


. . . i offered it to a fun family . . . 


. . . a family who doesn't care 
if feet get dirty . . . 


. . . a family who understands 
that dirty feet can be washed . . .


. . . but vintage trampolines 
are heavy . . . 


. . . vintage trampolines 
take a village to relocate . . .
. . . a village including 
our neighborhood police officer 
and his son . . . 
. . . and our primary care physician 
and his two sons . . . 
. . . and a helpful 
next door neighbor . . . 
{who should definitely not have been helping 
- what with his recent heart valve replacement surgery and all - 
but we have an awesome neighborhood village!}


 . . . thank heaven there was 
a sassy little glove-wearing blonde 
to carry the ladder . . . 


. . . she should carry the ladder . . . 


. . . the trampoline is going 
to her house . . . 


. . . and you can bet your boots . . . 


. . . that she will be 
the boss of that trampoline . . . 




6 comments:

Carol said...

So fun! She's going to love it!

Nedra said...

What a great story. Hey, I know that house! Are you getting a few haircuts in trade?

cheryl said...

This post made me a little teary...guess it's just the stage in life...it's hard to let some things go that have such great memories behind them. Even harder when you would love for those memories to go on & they don't. That made ME a bit sad but on a happier note...It's your birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Steph! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!!

Brad's Mom said...

What an awesome house to go live at!

chris+amber said...

You know how I feel about this whole trampoline situation. :o( I'm dying how cute Maggie was. I miss her.

Unknown said...

Haha. I don't know which part makes me smile more. The fact that your girls are against black feet {racists, all of them} or the fact that i recognized drewbie's little sweatsuit from the 90s. it's all just awesome.