Family

I spent the first part of my life wishing for a home. More specifically, a family. I found out early that my parent was going to leave me. It hurt. I fell to the ground and cried. Don’t cry for me, this is actually a happy story. I didn’t stay crying for too long.

I got myself up and decided that I would find my own family. One that I could love and one that would love me too.

I followed wherever the wind would take me. Wherever it felt right. I traveled from one home to another, but none of them ever felt right.

I thought one was. I came to them on a stormy night. They met me outside while they were playing in the rain. There were three kids and a mom and a dad. They were all outside playing and they started playing with me. We had fun together, for a time. It was not a home that I could grow at though. So I moved on.

One family was worse though. The worse I had seen. They were mean to each other and mean to me. I was taken in by them, but they pretty much tossed me aside like I was trash. Then, they hurt me by telling me I was too small and I’d never grow up. I left there too.

Then, I found them. The perfect family. Mother, father, son and daughter. The mom was caring. She was sweet and kind. She gave so much love, that I could feel it radiating from her. She had smiles and freckles and long wavy hair. She made me feel at home.

The dad was soft. He was funny and playful. He was a big kid at heart and looked silly with his long hair and crazy beard. He laughed and loved and taught the kids to laugh and love as well.

The son was smart. He had the longest hair of the four and he had braces. He talked. And talked and talked and talked. He told jokes that were funny and played with toys and the daughter. He loved to read and told great stories.

The daughter was kind. She was smart too. She had the shortest hair and sometimes had a crazy look on her face. She cared for every living thing. She preferred animals over everything else. Sometimes she claimed she was a cat.

They found me and helped me to believe in myself. I found a place to stretch out, and dig in. I spent every day with them and we grew up together.

The kids grew faster than I thought they would. They moved on with their lives, while I stayed at home. Mom and Dad stayed with me. They took care of me for their entire lives. The kids had grown up, had kids of their own and would bring them back to visit. It was nice seeing their kids grow as well.

Then, Dad passed away. The family came together for the funeral. Then a few months later, Mom passed away. The daughter came back to live in the house with her family. She also had lots of cats. They were fun to play with. They would climb all over me.

I watched them grow old as well. I kept growing too. I got taller and bore more fruit. The kids and their kids loved my fruit. They called them pears. The cats would eat them sometimes too. My family had taken me in and planted me in a space where I could really grow some roots.

I watched this family grow. After the daughter's kids were old enough to start having kids of their own, I started getting old. I wasn't bearing fruit anymore, so the kids couldn't enjoy me as much. The daughter still had some of my pears and took her kids and grandkids out with some seeds and planted them near me.

They were my kids. They started growing. I got to watch as they started to bear fruit. There were so many of them. At least a dozen. I was so proud that they would be able to continue with this family.

One day, I was feeling extremely old, and the daughter, who was looking old herself, came to me. She had an ax. It looked like it was my time. She looked at me for a long time. Then, she hugged me.

"Thank you so much," she said. "You have always been here for us. I will miss you." A tear streamed down her face, as she went for the ax and chopped me down.

Like I said though, this is a happy story. My life meant so much to this family. They meant so much to me. The daughter took my wood and made me into a rocking chair. She sat me on their front porch, looking out at my kids. I spent generation after generation, rocking this family on the front porch.