Twin bed reminders

Share with your friends:

email

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin

Today my father called me. He’s visiting his mother, my Beebe; she’s in the hospital again. It seems worse than all the other times – which sounds even more heartbreaking to admit. He drove down to Florida with his twin brother, Randy, to help Papa Joe, my grandfather, and to spend time with Beebe. My grandmother’s sister, Genie, was staying in the true guest bedroom, so Daddy and Uncle Randy took the other room – the “kid” room at The Ranch.

In this room there are two twin beds. To be honest, they’re not great beds; they’re old and they’re not very comfortable. But these are the beds I always associated as “mine” growing up; this is the room where my brother, Jordan, and I would sleep when we’d stay the night, and it’s the room where my cousins stayed when they came to visit. We played there, and we spun dreams there. I’d always sleep in the bed on the left side of the room – isn’t it funny how as children we claim things without even realizing it? These beds never seemed extraordinary…just a set of old, small beds, but they did always feel like home in a way.

This morning, Daddy told me that the twin beds on which he and Randy were sleeping, the ones I hadn’t given much thought to in the past, were the same beds that they used to sleep on as little boys. So for the first time, in a very, very long time, they were not only sharing a room in their parents’ house, but also sleeping in the same beds they had when they were growing up.

Wow. I was immediately moved by that image.

With that image, to me life seemed to symbolically come full circle. Of course, time has switched up the roles: the children have become the caretakers, at least in this moment. I found this to be beautifully cruel. Reminiscently heartwarming, but also a reminder of changes to come in the future. Overall, I thought of how comforting it is for them to be together during a difficult time – how blessed we continue to be with such a devotedly compassionate family – how lucky I am to find closeness with extended cousins because of the efforts of my grandparents – how wonderful my life has been because of the people in it and the community we share. They have known me, and I have known them. My memories are cherished, and I am eager to make more.

And ultimately it’s nice to be reminded where you came from – a place of love and family, and two old, twin beds.