Grown-Up Kids

Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 256: Today, I am grateful for our grown-up kids.

Every season of life has its joys and trials. We can choose what we focus on. Watching young families managing the Pumpkin Festival with their littles brings back so many memories of juggling kids of different ages and at different stages. Trying to make everyone happy with food choices, ride choices, and length of stay meant there had to be conversations about expectations. And in a blink, they became adults.   

Now, standing in line means extra time for conversations. (The food lines move fast, even when they are long.) Reminiscing is a part of taking in the festival. The Smiths tend to suffer from motion sickness. We have unique-to-us names for many of the rides that I will spare you here. Ask Chase, Walker, Ryan Leander, and Blake Leander if you want to know those special names. 

The past few years I have volunteered with the Morton 709 crew at the Pumpkin Grill. My job has been to help direct the food line. (It is set up a little like the weaving Disney World lines.) How many times can you give the same directions? "Only stand in line at the foods you want." "Go around the foods you don't want... it helps the line flow quickly and it is not "cutting" or rude." "Near the drinks/sweets you can reunite with family members before you head to the check-out line." "Divide and conquer... one person gets the meat and the other grabs the chili..." "Yes, you can use a card. Save your cash for the Apple Cider Slushies." I sometimes lose my voice by the end of 3 hours... and that might be the perk for the Love-of-my-Life.  

One of the perks of working the line is seeing former "Jr. Potters" who are now grown-up. Some are seniors in High School... others are really grown-up, married, and attending with their babies and children. It makes me love our little village even more. Family and friends who become family are part of the charm. The world is big, but home is home (just like a part of my heart remains in Iroquois county). 

Tonight, upon asking if anyone had questions, one young woman said "yes" but not about the food line. She asked if there was any way of knowing when the "pumpkin stink" would start and stop. The answer was simple. "No, It comes and goes."  She was a lovely young woman in her early to mid twenties and loving life here in Morton, but the "stink" is unique. It is not all the time. We endure the "stink" so we can enjoy pumpkin pie and all of the other fabulous pumpkin items our nation enjoys at our local Nestle/Libby's canning plant. (The stink is associated with the pumpkin carcass waste left when the pumpkins have been processed.) 

Those who grew up here associate the "pumpkin stink" with the Pumpkin Festival and happy times, so the stink brings a sense of nostalgia (a perfect word borrowed from Allison Vastine). I remember our  Walker coming home from college for the first visit in the fall of his freshman year at college.  He rolled down his windows at the Morton exit and that stink brought a sense of joy.  Allison mentioned the exact same experience on her way into town this week. That "pumpkin stink" stirs memories of childhood and increases the joy factor. It is all about perspective. 

Perhaps the title of today's gratitude should have been "pumpkin stink" but it is the grown-up perspective that reframes the smell into something special... of not exactly "good." 

Usually a scripture comes to mind by the end of a daily gratitude post. Today, I had to dig a little deeper, but found one I think fits just right. As I reflect on the first days of the festival, I have witnessed kindness, humble service, celebration, generosity, patience, delight, affection, laughter, reminiscing, and making new memories. It really is the best week because of the people.

"Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." -Romans 12:10

Love the place you live. Embrace your local festivals and homecomings. Delight in your grown-up kids. 

Today, I am grateful for our grown-up kids.