Blissful Summer

I was born just after WW II and brought home to our family's first house.  Located on busy Wooster Road in Fairview Park, Ohio, it was a white colonial with center staircase and dark green shutters.  In the front yard were three huge poplar trees that grew together and towered over everything.  My older siblings, 17, 15, and 14, were well immersed into high school life, my mother stayed at home, and my father was an electrician.

Next door on the corner was a lovely brick home owned by a construction company owner, and then just across Henry Road was a brick three-story where my friend, Debbie, lived with her mother, father, sister and grandmother.  Just down Henry was a two-story home where my friend, Dolly, lived with her mother, father and brother.  Dolly's father was a surgeon.

Debbie and Dolly were the same age and I was one year older, but we were fast friends.  Now, you know the old saying, "Two's company; three's a crowd."  There is some truth to that, because from time to time, one of us would be on the outs with the other two.  It more or less rotated but it wasn't much fun being the one shunned. 

One of the corniest things we did, and I have no idea how it got started or if anyone else in the entire world did it, was go to each other's houses and call at the door, "Oh, Doll-ly (substitute Debbie or Karen), come and play with me."  Doorbells just weren't necessary.  And then the glorious pretending would begin.

Debbie's father was a corporate vice president for Corby's, a liquor company.  They liked to golf and socialize with friends, and they belonged to Elyria Country Club.  Elyria Country Club had a playground and a pool for the kids, and Debbie's older sister was a bit too old to keep company with her, so either Dolly or I were invited to come along for the entire day.  They took turns.

We would arrive right around the time that the pool opened for the day, or maybe just a little earlier.  One of the guards would check us in, and away we went to get on our suits.  We had a charge at the snack bar and could get candy or a drink whenever we needed something.  That tided us over until dinner time when we'd change into our dresses (yes, we wore dresses to the club), and headed over to the clubhouse.  The hostess would seat us and the waiter would come over and take our orders.  It was all very proper and mannerly.  Everything was pristine, clean and lovely.  It was like an old mansion.  Almost all of the help were black, and they were so kind to us.

After dinner, we had a quandary.  Did we want to put on wet suits (you know how hard that is) or just play outside until it was time to go home.  When we did decide to put on our suits, the pool water felt all the warmer with just that little bit of night air.  Right around dark, Debbie's parents would drive over to the pool and we'd clamor into their car, a Cadillac with leather seats and a pull down arm rest in the back seat, and head home.  There were no highways back then; it was back roads all the way and it wasn't hard to start getting sleepy.

Once safely in their driveway, I'd say thank you and head across the street for home, where the front door was always open. 

As summer begins, I usually remember the country club and how it felt to be free to just have fun.  No worries, no concerns.  For that day, worries about my mother's health and the darkness of my father's drinking could be forgotten.  It was an escape for me, and sometimes I felt a little guilty for having it.

When I hear the Bible words, "Come unto me, all you who are burdened and heavily laden and I will give you rest," it has such meaning.  These very words were on a plaque above the check-in counter at the pediatrician's office when my sons were little. 

And the rest mentioned in this verse is the rest that we will have in heaven, but the lesson for us to learn is also this:  when we come to the Lord and lay out all of our troubles, we will find rest HERE.  When I do that, turn over all my concerns, the feeling is very similar to how I felt at the country club.  A weight is lifted and I remember that I am not in charge. Worry gets us nowhere.  Worry paralyzes us from getting God's help because we aren't listening.  Worry pulls us towards doubt.

If you have one of those blissful summer days when all of the worries are put aside, you will know just what I am talking about.