The Homeplace
Pulling onto the dirt roads from town I begin to think of my childhood. We pass the family plot and I think how much I have seen it grow in my lifetime. It makes me wonder how my great grandmother was the one who bought the plot when she was young and how no one had been put to rest there yet. In Ms. Sable's life she had seen the dramatic growth with the death of her grandparents, parents, siblings, and children. She has buried almost our entire family. We turn onto our road that is named after my family, Underwood Road. The entire family lived in four houses along this road, each one passed down through the generations. Ms. Sable's is the first one. We pull into her driveway and begin to get out of the car."June, darling, I wouldn't get this shot once a week if I still needed help getting out of the car." Ms. Sable was always a strong woman, and now at eighty-nine years old she could be mistaken for being the same age as Patsy. Her knee had gone bad some years ago and she goes to the doctor once a week to get what she calls her mobility shot. No matter how much pain she is in, she will never admit it and most people cannot tell for she never sits still. Patsy and I can
Patsy and I squabble around doing whatever Ms. Sable tells us to do. It's hard to keep up with her in the kitchen. Everything has been in the same place for forty years, at least, my only guess is it's easier that way. We have one of those famous Homeplace dinners where we sit on the front porch in the rocking chairs eating our cream corn, greens, pork chops, and rolls with a glass of Mayberry Wine. That has always Ms. Sable's favorite wine, even when I was little. In fact, I don't think I have ever had dinner with my grandmother when she didn't have a glass full of it. "Patsy, it has never taken me this long to unpack a car." "I hope at that age I will still be living for the experiences of life the way she does, and not just living because it is all I know how to do." "I was shooting the squirrels, they eat all my plums, and now they made me loose three perfectly good shells. They're faster this year." "Well, how about dinner?" said Ms. Sable leaning the shotgun against the wall. Patsy and I realize with one look that, that was Ms. Sable's way of getting us back over here. She never likes to be alone when she knows we are only next-door.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Ms Sable, Ms Sable's, Homeplace Pulling, Underwood Road, Sable June, ms sable, ms sable's, Patsy Patsy, entire family, shooting squirrels, unpack boxes,
Approximate Word count = 1021
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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