Jefferson Lives On!

During this Thanksgiving Holiday my mom, Nana Banana, and I started reminiscing about our younger years. Inevitably we compare ourselves and our kids to the traits of our parents. It tickles my heart every time I hear a new story about my parents as children. Everytime you think you've heard all that they have done, some random story brings about new musings.

Nana Banana and I were commenting on my younger brother and his many antics. Boy did he pull some stunts as a child. CB was forever roaming as a child. My mom would tell him to stay in the yard and he could play outside. After a few minutes she would check on him and he was nowhere to be found. I told her that she just didn't speak his language. To CB a yard was anyplace with grass. As long as there was grass under his feet he was in the yard! He just wasn't too concerned about who's yard it was. We laughed about how fearless this kid was except for one little phobia. CB was deathly afraid of the dark. He may have been quite the little roamer but you could always be sure that about 5 seconds before darkness fell he was running through the door.

Nana Banana told me that my dad, Jefferson, was quite the roamer as well. Apparently he enjoyed his own company and preferred to entertain himself. He would go off and hide in caves or in woods always eluding his brothers. He would also hide under his house and create an entire city for his little cars to go. There were times when he would find some money and decide that he needed to add to his car collection. He never let anything stop him from doing what he felt he needed to do, so he hitchhiked (he was about 6 or 7) into town and purchased his little car. I'm not sure if he even bothered to tell anyone where he was going or ask permission to do it.

I believe that same spirit lives on in each of his children. We do like to take charge and make things happen. I think he was always proud of our independant characters. He always told us not to let anything hold us back from what we wanted to do. He reminded us that hard times were just ways to build character.

We lost our adventuring Jefferson some time ago during his 11 year struggle with Alztheimers. Every once in a while a little glimmer of his true self would be able to make it through the fog of the disease. Jefferson left this life a year ago on September 30th but I believe his spirit carries on in his children and theirs. Everytime my little Li Li shows that mischevious streak I see her papa in her. Everytime I laugh till my sides hurt I feel that happy spirit of my papasan living on inside me.

Thank you Jefferson for the wonderful legacy.