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The Trees That Daddy Planted
As we drove into Raleigh from Wake Forest last week, I noticed my daughter looking at the construction site where Cheviot Hills Golf Course used to be and knew what was coming next. I tried to distract her by talking about one of her friends at school. I asked if she wanted a snack. I even resorted to pointing out a VW Bug heading the other direction, but she was deep in thought.
"Mommy, I just don’t understand why they had to tear down the trees," She said quietly. "The trees were so pretty and we already have a lot of car dealerships and neighborhoods." She had been asking me a version of the question every few days since the trees began to come down and I hoped that this time I could find the right words.
When my husband was growing up in this area, he spent every free moment playing golf at Cheviot Hills and worked at the course while in high school. Before the clear cutting of the property began, he often pointed out how beautiful the golf course was with rolling hills, a creek that weaved through the property and beautiful trees that lined the course. My husband told the kids of childhood memories of playing golf on hot summer days, friends made, cutting the grass, and how he helped plant some of those very trees when he was a kid.
My son, who was intently watching the yellow bulldozers flatten what used to be gently rolling hills, said "I never even got to play that golf course with Daddy. He was going to show me the creek."
My van was silent for one of the very few times in recent memory as my kids looked at me for an answer. I finally told them that I really didn’t understand why they had cut down all the trees. The kids simply nodded at me.
I looked at window at the now leveled-flat landscape and piles of trees laying on the red Carolina clay. I was sad that my kids would never get to experience the beauty of that special place and the trees that their Daddy helped plant are all just a memory.
Jennifer appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom.
From Trike to Two Wheeler
Jennifer Gregory left Florida almost 11 years ago to escape the heat and enjoys living in a place where the seasons change. She lives in Youngsville, N.C., which she usually refers to as north of Wake Forest, and has been married to her husband for almost 10 years. As the mom of two kids and three dogs, her house is filled with lots of joyful noise and barking. Her daughter (7) is convinced that she will be a princess when she grows up and her son (5) has aspirations of being the next Dale Jr. After years of writing software documentation for various companies, she "retired" when her daughter was born to become a stay at home mom. Now that her kids are in school, she has finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. She spends her mornings as a freelance writer and her afternoons hanging out with her kids. The only things she misses about living in Florida are her friends and family, Publix fried chicken and going to Florida Gator football games.
Jennifer appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom.
Comments
This area has changed so much just in the time that I've been here-- I can't imagine the changes people who grew up here, like your husband, must see. We forget, sometimes, that what we think of as progress also takes away a chunk of history.