It was a bright and sunny Sunday. I was just chillin’ after church, about to brew a fresh coffee and make my way towards the computer to check on things. Before I had a chance, I caught movement outside where there normally is none. Glancing to my left towards the backyard, my jaw dropped.
I wasted no time in unlatching the back door, tripping over a pile of furniture, pallets and boxes (I really need to clean up that patio!), and stumbled my way across the yard, attempting to remain all cool, calm and collected. But I didn’t feel it inside. Not by a long shot.
Neighbour Chris was high in the willow tree, dangling a long yellow rope down below, with a swing laying on the ground. I was GIDDY with delight! And had to get in on it and be all nosey like. But calm, mind you. Very calm…
“AAAHH!!! ARE YOU PUTTING UP A SWING?!”
Calm indeed. 🙂
Indeed he was. He was climbing along the branches, attempting to find the perfect spot so the neighbourhood kiddos could have a blast. And you can bet I offered my advice…
Oh my goodness. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve sat under this tree wishing it had a swing?! Of course you don’t! You don’t know my swing story.
Back at my last home on acreage, my son’s birthday was rolling around and I wanted something super cool. And then I thought… a swing. The perfect, tall country swing. The kind so tall that it would feel like forever to swing from front to back. The kind where you don’t get dizzy nor seasick. THAT swing.
So I knocked on my neighbour’s door, who was a contractor. Stan came to my rescue and was hired to build the ultimate tall, double swing on wooden posts. For mom and son swing sessions of course…
It wasn’t cheap! I remember biting my lip at the price, but I wanted it, so I made it happen.
And we ADORED it. It was the perfect place to just sit in the garden, as well as kick up a good session. It truly was the most amazing swing in the world. I would often go out to the swing with coffee in hand while my boy went down for a nap. It was my own private garden bench on ropes.
What meant the world to me was when my mom would come out to stay with us on weekends. She loved the swing and would often hold my boy on her lap and swing at their leisure.
When I was forced to move, know what was the hardest to leave behind? You guessed it. The swing.
I know it was only a swing. But 7 years later, my eyes still sting at the thought. Crazy, isn’t it? It was just a swing. I had debated on trying to bring it, but we didn’t write it into the contract of the sale. Plus I couldn’t fathom spending a ton of money to move it. No. It would need to stay.
After I moved, I drove by there just to ‘check things out’. To my horror, the swing had been taken down. I couldn’t believe it! Why would they do such a thing?!
I’ll never know why they removed that beautiful, remarkable landmark of a swing I had planned to grow ivy on. And I hadn’t thought of it in a long time. Until Sunday.
There is now a swing behind our home. And it’s every bit as tall and magnificent as the one I left behind. And know what’s even cooler about this one? It’s under a massive tree AND swings across a creek! In my very favorite spot in the whole wide world when I like to get away from it all for a spell.
The swing by the creek serves as a memory that not all is lost when you need to move on. You may find things different, however that’s not to say they will be worse. In fact, they may even turn out better!
Thank-you Chris. You have no idea how giddy you made this 51 year old kid!
Thanks for bringing a smile to my face 🙂 I’m sitting here in Southern Ontario, Canada, with temperature at minus 21 (much colder than our usual minus 5) and the snow up to my nose. But for a few minutes I could feel the warm breezes and feel the swing going over the creek. Only 8 weeks till spring!!!!
Thanks so much for writing this story down. For myself and my three kids, 2013 was a year of much sadness and change. My husband and I separated (he had found greener pastures elsewhere), and we sold our family home. To keep my kids in their school, I was DESPERATE to find a house that I could afford in our area. A little bungalow came up on the market and despite a very competitive market, I managed to get it! It needs work, but it has a LOT of potential. In fact, every day I can see more and more. It’s going to be awesome. And it’s OUR house. One with love and more peace. So thanks again for writing your stories – I can see the swing in our future.
ah a swing, joy beyond joy, it was the ONLY thing in a play ground (grew up in NYC) I would look for! My Mom used to say if a play ground did not have one, I would simply not even go into the play yard! Childhood memories? hours upon hours of just swinging away, the feeling of being free, that made me happy! Can so relate to your comments about a swing and loved seeing your feet off the ground for a few minutes! So happy happy happy for you! Bliss at its best!
Audrey
Donna,
I love to swing also. three years ago my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas and the only thing I could come up with was a swing hanging from the oak tree in our front yard. he made one for me and hung it. I love to sit and swing really stirs up my creativity process, too. The only problem I have is having to leave my swing and return to the real world and responsibilities.
thanks for sharing
awing back and forth!
Terri
What a sweet story.. Enjoy the swing..!! It’s the simplelist things in life that mean more then anything..
That’s awesome! There’s something about a swing that brings the kid out in us all. I think it’s the freedom you experience as the breeze of the air catches against the skin. We have a tire swing and it’s always the first thing kids go to when they arrive. I’d like to have a wooden swing that would be grand.
-Carole
AWESOME!!! I had a swing when I was young that also swung out over the brook next to my house. I still live in the same house and I now have another wonderful swing in my yard that my grandchildren just love. Unfortunately it doesn’t swing over the brook as that tree had to be taken down. But it is still a great swing. We have a wooden swing set also but they tend to fight over the rope swing as they call it. Thanks for the wonderful story!
Hey Donna,
My swing scenario is sooo similar to yours and we did have one on one of our big old trees until last fall when a major windstorm forced us to take down that one big branch – the quest is on to find another limb in one of our other trees. Nothing like it for de-stressing!
You never know why people do things. Imagine, the house that my husband grew up in – the house that his father built with his own two hands when my husband was about a year old… When his parents sold the house – the people who bought it…tore it down and built a different house.
Glad you got a new swing, Donna!
Swing away!
-b.
Thanks for the memories! I always had a swing growing up, strung high on an old oak tree or attached to the door or the big barn. My Dad always built mine and those are treasured memories…….
Swings and tree houses are my thing! My husband built a tree house for our boys out of left over wood from a remodel. The tree house is gone but tree is still there. That tree now has a hammock where I can lay and look at my garden (it was a hammock for Hubby but I use it). Swings, we have a big wooden swing that my boys used and now my Granddaughters are using! The world is so different on a swing! Enjoy yours!
Aaaaah…..swings….my favorite… I believe Heaven will be full of swings! Enjoy!!!
…that.is.Awesome!! Love me a swing too!! : )
May we never grow up “Swing”……. Your post brought back my memories of the joy and freedom of gliding through the air…. thank you!
I love your blog, your sharing, making me smile, the joy of seeing your latest creation and best of all your sharing your walk.
Thank you dear friend though we have never met!
Debbie
I love swings! Thank you for sharing this story with us.
Donna, let’s make a deal: Let’s never lose the little girl inside of us!! Long live the swings in our hearts! blessings on your day!
Donna,
Thank you for the memories. My siblings and I always had a swing and spent hours of enjoyment and a few äccidents”on it (jumping off it sometimes was not calculated correctly) but on the whole the best imagination world. It is such a peaceful place where you can imagine yourself as a trapeze artist or my favorite, a bird. I love to see children enjoying a swing when they live in such a world of electronics and inactivity. I cherish the time spent watching my granddaughters soaring to the sky and following the path of millions of children as they attempt to reach the clouds. How special a memory.
Enjoy your swing and your memories.
I am amazed at the wonderful things God can do. My comment has nothing to do with the swing except that I am glad you are happy about it…My comment is about how God will find the darndest ways to send a message…The last three sentences of your post was a message from God to me…you see…my family and I may have to leave the house we have called home for 13 years and I have struggled with this for over a year…whatever happens…I know it will be ok for my God has sent me a message! Thank you very much…you do more than just educate us on “junk”! Thanks again!
When I was a child we lived in the mountains in Northern California in the middle of the red wood forrest, and it was heaven,(I was such a Tomboy) but we had a swing that we could swing over a creek, and I spent hours in that swing daydreaming. Then years and years later my first husband and I bought his old home that he grew up in and it had a huge front porch. We hung a swing on that front porch and we spent hours in that swing and he would sing funny little ditties to me and one evening he sang the most beautiful song to me I had never heard it before or since. Six months later he died. That swing is now at his nieces house and I sometimes go and visit and the memories flood my brain and later I will have a good cry. I’m remarried now to a wonderful man and I love him dearly, but you can’t erase the wonderful memories and I wouldn’t want to, they are what shaped us and made us who we are, whether they be good or bad, and its nice to re-visit the good ones. Thank you for taking us back to those wonderful memories.
What a sweet story! I love the stories you post about nature about the simple things in life…they can be the sweetest. 🙂
I love the swing but would like to see a little better blip of you enjoying it.
Awesome story. I’m so excited for you and the new swing. And, a bright yellow….that is fabulous. I just bet that you are out there more & more as the weather gets nicer & nicer. Such joy. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, this made me cry 🙂 When I was a little girl, my Dad made me a swing on a metal frame, I have had that swing for 45 years and dragged it along through many moves and a marriage breakdown. My kids loved it as I do and now it is time for it to be re-painted and given a new seat. Thank you for reminding me how precious the simple things can be 🙂
Cheers from Australia.
I enjoy your blog and your creativity. This may be my favorite post of all. You could have gone out and simply wished you had “your” swing back. After all, you had it made at great expense. Your first swing brings back fond memories.
You didn’t do that – you ran outside, your heart was wide open to receive the new swing. God redeemed your loss with a sunshine yellow swing – to swing back and forth over the creek. Precious story. Makes me smile.
Donna!!!
Thanks sooo much for writing this!! God has sent me a message through your message about His message!! : ). You have blessed me by waking me up again to the wonderful person that is Chris, the swing Chris, my dear hubbie. He is the big kid who flies planes big and small. Who avoids getting ready for parties by putting up swings, making his wife a little mad. But has a better sense of what is important than his wife sometimes.
Anyway I must off to bed but this was a lovely post, and Chris will really love it too.
Torrey
{ love this post,the pictures,and your little video. We had a swing in the backyard for our daughter and she loved it. Now we have 2 of the 3 person swings out back.I love to go out there and feel all the smells and sounds of nature around me.Now there are little grandkids to enjoy it with.
Haha, wow! There’s something to be said for neighbourhood community for sure… glad we could help each other! 🙂 I LOVE that you replied, it made my night!
How sweet!!! xo
Thanks for the story. I inherited my mom and dad’s house that I grew up in and lived there until I got married. There are 2 big oak trees outside that used to have a swing under them. I was just thinking last year that I want to put a swing back in the trees. And this is from a 53 year old kid.
My husband put an old wooden seat swing in our yard about 12 years ago. It’s on a tall tree in our yard and because one side has to be longer to reach the ascending branch, it not only swings, but spins. I love to swing for a few minutes and my son and his friends still go for it and they’re teens now. Creating memories.
51 ! Certainly you do not look it! Love your swing! Peaceful. Have a story of my own and so admire how you have and continue to overcome
yours. It’s such a pleasure to have found your blog. Keep going girl!
Deb