Have you ever owned a porch swing and have great memories of your time there? The first one I experienced was as a young pre-school child. My grandmother was not blessed to have her own home after she became a widow at age 36.  She spent the next 25-30 years of her life being a care giver for others, in their homes.

For as long as I can recall the only home my grandmother ever had was with that of a widower; Mr. Kennedy. My grandmother reared her two children in that old country home as the cook and housekeeper for him. I recall the house with fond memories, but perhaps the greatest was that of the old porch swing. Memories of childhood are often distorted from reality, but a “swing” never changes. It can’t be larger or smaller or more picturesque as in a child’s mind. It merely holds the memories of swinging alone or with another; perhaps reading a book or sipping lemonade.

At a young age, I was a romantic at heart. How I longed for the day, I would have my own home and family and yes, it had to include a porch swing. Long before I had my own swing, my ex husband, Charles’s parents had a glider. It wasn’t as romantic as a porch swing, but it too would offer its’ passengers quiet and solitude as they dreamed of places near and far.

Years later after Charles and I had our own family, my persistence for a swing remained strong. I had moved from house to house, city to city and state to state with him and felt after 15 years of marriage a porch swing would be a great asset for our long porch which backed up to a woods and a creek.  Charles finally succumbed to my pleas and tears. Although it was not the porch swing as the one of my childhood, Charles insisted it should be one of a more contemporary design. Nonetheless, many frequented that swing; children and their friends, family close by and far away, guests from several continents. I can still hear the cries of our little cat. We knew, he too had visited the swing, only to have a paw which had fallen among the slats. In a panic, rather than lift his leg, his wails alarmed us to rescue him.  Isn’t it wonderful that God gives us the gift of memory, which allows us to relive those parts of our lives which bring us great “sonshine.”  Proverbs 17:22 ESV, “ A joyful heart is good medicine…”