Up a long windy stone driveway sat an old yet beautiful house. The house was unique looking with its grey shingles and immense flowers and greenery that surrounded it. In the house lived an old man and his wife. They were old too, but not as old as the house they lived in. Even before the old man was alive, his parents and parents before them lived there too. The man felt that it was more than a house, it was his home.
Every day the man and his wife would wake up in the morning and have breakfast with each other, as they always did. And as always, after breakfast the man would go outside and feed the deer, tend to his plants, and take care of his land. Day after day, the mans granddaughter would watch him hunched over and sweating with a tired look on his face. One day she said, “Papa, you look tired, why don’t you take a rest?” The man replied and said, “I am not tired, I am doing what I love.” That’s strange, thought the girl. “Then why do you look so unhappy?”, she replied. I had never seen anyone look so unhappy doing something they love. Although, the girl did not put much thought into it, she shrugged and walked away before he could answer. After a long day, the old man made his way back inside. As always, his wife had supper for him on the table, hot and ready. He loved it that way the most. All full and cleaned up, the old man and his wife trailed off to bed.
The next day the sun had risen bright and early. The rooster’s were on que with their “Cock-a-doodle-do.” Down the stairs the old man and his wife went, not wasting a minute of their time. As expected, after breakfast the old man put on his work boots and started for the door. Not long after, the old mans granddaughter came up the long windy driveway. She was all ready for her adventure of a day to begin. What was she going to do? The girl had a few ideas in mind, like watching the turtles float by on their rafts made out of sticks down at the park, or maybe she would ride her bike to the ice cream shop. She hadn’t decided yet. No matter what she did, it always began at Papa’s house.
As the girl raced by her grandfather in a hurry, she noticed her grandfather looked hot and thirsty. She said, “Papa, you look thirsty, would you like a drink?” He quickly replied and said, “No thank you dear. I am not thirsty, I am doing what I love.” The girl took a moment to think about what her grandfather said, even though she had heard it a million times. As she thought about everything she loved, like eating ice cream, or watching the turtles, she remembered she always would have a smile on her face. Doing things we love should be easy and fun, right? Instead of going on her big adventure, the girl had second plans. She plopped right down next to her grandfather. “I don’t understand Papa, you always tell me you are doing what you love but you never have a smile on your face or look happy?”, said the girl. And for the first time, her grandfather gave her an answer that she had never heard before. “Well dear, sometimes what we love can take hard work and dedication. Just think, how would our yard look so beautiful with flowers if I had never worked on it for so long? How would our food taste so good every night if your grandmother had never spent long hours preparing it?”
For the first time it now had all made sense. Love is patient and love is kind.
