A Magnolia's Heart Beats

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"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls..." Jeremiah 6:16


I remember when I was about 16 years old. I asked my grandmother if she would drive me to a friend's house after school. She said, "It's just right through the woods." The woods? Um, there were hundreds of acres of woods behind the house. I hadn't played in them since I was about 8 years old. No way was I going on a nature walk that would take me...well, I had no idea where I would have ended up.

The look on my face must have evidenced my skepticism at trekking throug the woods. She grinned and said, "Laurie Ann, all you have to do is ask me." I remember thinking, "I just asked you...oh, wait! You want me to ask how to get there!" Yeah, I was that dense, but I was only 16. There were lessons to be learned!

I asked her how far it was. She said, "Oh, about 10 minutes." My next question was, "Are there really wild boar in the woods, Maw Maw?" She (unconvincingly) said, "There are deer but they won't bother you if you don't bother them." My next question was, "Which trail do I go down? The one we used to ride bikes on when I was little?" She laughed and said, "I suppose." I gulped and finally said, "Okay. Will you show me the way?"

That's the question she wanted to hear. She not only showed me the way, but walked most of it with me. All I had to do to find the trail was ask. When I was ready to come home, all I had to do was call her and she met me halfway down the trail and walked home with me.

I learned a lot on that walk. I learned where the property line was for their land, I learned that there was a firmly trodden trail because of all the times she and my friend's grandmother had walked it to each other's houses through the years, and most of all, I learned that my grandmother enjoyed the walk through the woods *with me* in the cool part of the day, before the bugs came out but after the sun.

I trusted her during that walk. I knew she knew where she was going, because, well, she was old. She knew where the good path was. I found rest for my soul during that walk and talk.

That was 21 years ago. She is now 86. She has Alzheimer's and trusts others to lead her down the paths she walks, but she's still Maw Maw. I'm filled with love for her by writing about her today. Think I'll give her a call tonight. She may not know who I am, but I know.