Yesterday was Father’s Day and our 6th one without Tony. A week ago, I checked in with the kids and once again they didn’t care to do anything special. So, we had no plans for the day.
I had been putting off yard work for longer than I care to admit. I’m not a tall gal, but there were weeds out front that rivaled my 5’2” stature. It felt like every weekend we’d been in town; it either poured or had been 90 degrees. But Father’s Day the forecast was a little cooler with a breeze.
So, I recruited the kids and decided to tackle the mess out front. Normally, I end up doing this task alone. Last year I bought myself a mini chainsaw and it is a game changer for attacking the tree roots that keep trying to produce life. But having extra hands to bag up all the weeds and tree suckers made the project go so much faster.
It was so nice to have the kids out there helping. I don’t know if they helped because they are getting older, it was Father’s Day, or that I offered to pay them. (Probably that last one.) Maybe it was a combination of all three.
After we tackled the front, I decided we should try and cut down the dead Tony tree in the backyard. Once again, I gave the kids the option to bear witness to it or not. All three chose to be present.
My mini chainsaw wasn’t the fastest or most efficient tool, but we eventually got the job done. Father’s Day just felt like the right time to do it. We set it aside in the burn pile, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
