Saying Good-bye

I always wondered why every summer or at Christmas time when my Mom cried when leaving her mothers home. We would go at least once in the summer then at Christmas to visit grandma's house. We always had the best time-- doing nothing. We would walk to town which I thought was so far away but it only was about four blocks. There was a trail we would always go through heading to town and when we got there the only thing to do since there was only the post office a general store and a dime store ( we don't have them any more) was check the mail then go buy a little food. Then we had to carry it all back home to grandma's house. It was so much fun, we also would pull up peanuts and eat them raw. This was in Georgia and the only thing I hated was the Georgia nats, they would be every where. I remember my grandmother fixing the best pineapple upside down cake, I loved it. We would pick peas, tomatoes and go fishing in somebody's pond. I never remember catching anything, but just going was pure fun. My Uncle Johnny would walk back to town in the evening because mail was put out twice, we would go to the dime store and get a whole bunch of candy for 50 cents.
And back then the churches were left open, well we would go inside them also, just looking around.
On the day that we had to really buy food we would take the car to the big town of Tifton, Ga. , I think the store was called Harvey's, it seemed like it took all day long to buy groceries. Then we had to put them all up in the pantery and grandma had a big one.
At night we would just all sit outside and talk or play Gin Rummy or Monopoly . Well here is where the story is leading up to, the day we had to leave. We would get the car all packed up and ready to come back home and grandma would always have to give you something before we left just a little something.
Mama, me and my brother(Dink) would all get in the car and start back well thats when the crying started. We would leave going one way then grandma and uncle Johnny would run to the back of the house where they could see the car leaving again then back to the front for the last wave. Mama would just start crying and we just sat there till she finnished and on down the road things got better and we were glad to be on our way back home.
Well I am at that point now in my life when Mike and I are waving bye to our youngest son and his family. It breaks your heart, it really feels like it's gonna bust. And then you have a little grandson who holds on to your neck telling Mama and Daddy bye, but he has to leave also, with Mama and Daddy. It will kill you. at least it does me. I know now how my mother felt when saying goodbye, it's really hard. But then after a while everything is back to normal until the next trip and then it starts all over again.