Bittersweet Farm

Daniel (our sixth of eight) was on his way home from college. Most of the family was gathered for Christmas at Granville Cottage (our home) waiting to be together. We were in contact with him by phone. When he got within a few miles his brothers decided that they would go out and give him a warm welcome.

When his little red car came to a stop in front of the house his three brothers were waiting at his door. They grabbed him before his feet hit the ground and shouting and laughing carried him toward the house. I say toward the house because they didn’t actually get him all the way to the house. They got him most of the way to the house but just before they got to the house they dropped him–and when they dropped him they dropped him into a the bush in front of the porch–right in the middle of the bush–and Danny is our biggest boy. He made a lasting impression on the bush.

There he lay laughing in the snowy bush. His brothers dug him out and brushed him off and soon we were all warm and happy talking and laughing and enhjoying Christmas treats and stories and songs around the fireplace in the family room.

Last summer we removed the injured bush and put grass in it’s place. The bush is gone but the memory remains–the memory of brothers who love each other and a warm homecoming on a cold December night.

Danny is now has a beautiful wife and a child on the way. He lives in Texas, but he and his little growing family have booked a flight home to Granville Cottage for Christmas. This year we are eager to see them more than ever but we’re going to try not to drop them in the bushes.

I wish you many joyful Christmases and many happy Christmas gatherings and may you have people in this dark, cold, sometimes lonely world who are eager to see you home and hate to see you leave.

Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
December 5, 2015