My mom had a pretty cool grandma. There are many stories told of her zest for life, the love she shared in droves with her family and the creative, clever adventures she would create. I only remember meeting her once, but my mom makes sure her legacy prevails by offering my kids revisits of some of her favorite memories with her Grandma Meadows. We do, however, have video of Great Grandma Meadows dressed up in a variety of costumes leading people this way and that, but one of my favorites is of her lining up all the little kids with hankies full of goodies hanging off the ends of sticks.

During our Idaho visit this time round, it was the hobo picnic that my mom chose to recreate. She bought hankies, found sticks and packed a little picnic for our hobos.

Off they headed to the woods. They were gone for over an hour, and when they returned they were alive with stories of adventure. Gigi found a little fort and pretended to be Mary Ingalls, clearing brush, creating a table, adding plates and thoroughly enjoyed the pioneer experience in her own way. Jude found a little hobbit house and moved logs from here to there and back again.

The next day I headed up there with the kids to see their forts. We hiked up into the woods and we settled into the woods to clear more brush and get into the play. It didn’t take more than a few minutes before the insects found us – gnats, mosquitoes, and Lucifer the horsefly! We were bit like crazy and before long we were chased from the woods with marks all over our legs!

I’m grateful for my mom’s investment in her past and in her grandchildren’s present. Hopefully I’ll get to take a similar walk with my own little grand-hobos in another 25 or 30 years as well to carry on the legacy of the hobos.

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