Article content Paul Smith’s grandchildren in his truck as they head off for a summer adventure. CONTRIBUTEDArticle contentLast week Goldie and I had all four of our grandkids with us for a few days. I got the notion in my head that we’d all go swimming, and go in my truck. Well, that was the only way we could ride together in one vehicle.Article contentMy truck can accommodate six in seatbelts if you fold up the armrest in the front. That’s what I did because having my grandkids riding in the box isn’t ever going to be OK. The times have changed considerably in nearly five decades. We all got stowed in and off we drove for the swimming hole.Article contentThe little ones, Matilda and Cooper, were pretty excited about riding in the front between Goldie and I. That scenario isn’t common like it once was. So they arranged to take turns. The older kids, Rory and Harry, were just happy to go pond swimming on a hot day in pop’s old truck.Article contentMy truck is almost 17 years old, three years older than Rory, my oldest grandchild. They were all intrigued by that.Article contentMCDONALDS INSTEAD OF COOKUPArticle contentWe went to Round Pond and indeed it is a lovely swimming hole. We took along folding camp chairs for all, a luxury we did not have in the 1970’s, and we skipped the boiled hotdogs and instead went to McDonalds afterwards. The kids loved every minute of it. It was pure summer fun and I felt like I was 17 or 18 again. Maybe they should install seatbelts in pickup truck boxes for swimming outings and the like.Article contentArticle contentAnyway, after all that swimming the kids were starving. They all agreed upon McDonalds and Rory, the organizer extraordinaire, typed everybody’s order into her phone while we were all air-drying at the swimming hole. At the restaurant she ordered all our food at the kiosk and she and I did the hefty delivery to the table. She’s 14, by the way, and a beautiful, funny and adorable young girl.Article content Two of Paul Smith’s grandchildren (from left) Matilda and Cooper, at McDonalds. CONTRIBUTEDArticle contentAfter we were all nearly filled up and ready for desert, Rory went to work again. Of course she also had the desert requests on her phone. Again Rory and I did the honours and delivered sundaes and cones. I had my usual strawberry sundae treat, which has been my favourite since I was Rory’s age.Article contentWhat an absolutely wonderful day we had, especially the youngest, six year old Matilda, who is an only child and had an absolute blast living it up with her three cousins.Article contentThen there’s Cooper, the seven-year-old daredevil, who spent hours flying off the end of a bicycle ramp that I built for him. I knows he wouldn’t love a ride in the box of my truck. I can see him standing over the cab with his arms in the air and feeling the wind in his hair. I used to do that going blueberry picking in late summer. I still remember the thrill.Article contentArticle contentRory and I entertained ourselves doing crazy videos of him in the air. The pure joy on Cooper’s face lifted my spirits to the moon. Harry, our 12 year old, just loves being “Around the Bay” with us no matter what he is doing. I had the hockey net set up in the driveway for him. Oh that reminds me, I have to reinstall a basketball hoop on that metal post that I put in the ground when our two girls were young.Article content Drying off after a swim. CONTRIBUTEDArticle contentFULL CIRCLEArticle contentSo life has come full circle for Goldie and I, not unlike the seasonal cycles we see in nature. We met as kids really, and we enjoyed our summers doing simple things. We went swimming, had picnics, trouting, berry picking, sometimes with our friends and often alone, just the two of us. That’s the pure outdoor summer fun that creates lifetime memories.Article contentI hope we just did the same for our grandchildren. I hope they will still remember that day swimming with us after Goldie and I are long gone.Article contentI’m a bit reflective tonight. Life is often tough and challenging but we have to celebrate our blessings. And simple summer days with family are a blessing. Thinking back to those early days of the late 70’s, could Goldie and I ever have imagined the life and days we would enjoy now with four grandchildren. Wow, we did good.
PAUL SMITH: Simple summer days, the cycle of life and memories of a chicken run
