Driveways and Porches

I guess that to most people nowadays driveways and porches are strictly practical. A porch is a place to  put a welcome mat and a driveway is a place to park your car for the short period of time you are actually at home each day. But I'm kind of a nostalgic sap and I realized the other day that they have had an interesting role in my life.

I was standing in the driveway waving good by to my son. He is 17 and he was only going three blocks away to spend the night at  his Nana's house. No big deal. Except watching him drive away was tough. It made me think about how proud I am of him and the young man that he is. But it also made me think that the times I get to spend waving him down the road are getting more and more limited with each passing day.

It got me remembering. We have this tradition in my family that when someone comes for a visit we all stand and wave as they leave when the visit is over. Sometimes it is from the driveway and sometimes it is from the porch, depending on the house. I can remember pulling away from my grandparents house and watching them wave from the porch. I can remember sitting on that porch as a college student and waving as my parents drove away. I can remember similar instances from houses of parents, aunts & uncles, grandparents, and friends. Its a small thing. But it means a lot to me because the relationships mean a lot to me.

I have other memories of my grandmothers' porches. Most porches these days are pretty stinking small. But back before air conditioning porches were large and shady. They were the perfect spot to sit on a rocker or glider and get a little cool breeze on a hot day. People sat on porches and watched the neighborhood kids play. They walked across the street and visited neighbors on porches. They talked about life or just listened to the birds. They also listened for the ice cream truck. These are the kinds of things we did on my grandmothers' porches.

Ya, I'm a sap. But you know, it wouldn't hurt if we all spent a little more time sitting on our porches or under a tree or someplace like that with our kids. Just to sit and talk or listen to the birds, no cell phones, no agendas. Just sit and be together; get to know each other better. Nope, that wouldn't hurt at all.