One day as a farmer finished planting his crops, he sat on the back steps to take his boots off before going inside and began to think about his parents and grandparents and all they had done for him growing up. The thought came to him to do something special to honor them. He remembered that his grandmother had always talked about how she would have loved to have had a small vineyard at the back of the yard where she could see it out the kitchen window as she worked at the sink.

The next day he decided to plant six grape vines at the edge of the yard between his house and his fields, so they could be seen out the kitchen window. He planted one in honor of his dad, another in honor of his mom, and four more in honor of his grandparents. In front of each vine he posted a plaque with the names of each parent, one for LeRoi, one for Marge, one for Henry, one for Doris, and one each for Allen and Mary Ellenore.

At Thanksgiving, when all the family gathered together for their traditional holiday celebration, a couple of his grandchildren went out to play in the back yard and noticed the new vines and the plaques beside them. When they went back inside they asked their grandfather, “Grandpa, what are those plants out back and who are LeRoi, Marge, Henry, Doris, Allen, and Mary Ellenore?” “The plants are grape vines” he told them, “I planted one for each of my parents and grandparents.” Continue reading “Grandpa’s Vineyard of Remembrance” →