Piggy Park

It will always be Piggy Park to us. When our children were little they loved to 'ride' the piggies on the coil springs, holding on for dear life. I think there were other animals too, but we remember the piggies and the way our kids would ask, "Can we go to the Piggy Park today?"

As of yesterday, the day of our BVG Founder's Day Picnic, we now know this park has another name, and apparently it always did. The plaque says it's Clayton Playground. So all those adorable little children who were there with their moms yesterday, do they ask, "Can we go to Clayton Playground today?" It just doesn't have the same ring to it.

We ate our lunch at a sunny picnic table near the big slide. As we watched all the children playing so joyfully, we also viewed their moms who were congregated nearby. We had to wonder, will they all be grandmas together in Port Orchard someday? Will they care enough to come have a picnic there even without young children? Will they reminisce about Clayton Playground the way we do about the Piggy Park?

For a brief moment I considered going over and asking these moms if they had any childrearing questions they wanted to ask us seasoned veterans, but I feared the rejection. What young moms want to ask some old grandmas, "How did you do it? What do you recommend?" j said her advice would be, "Enjoy these years because they go by fast." I know, it's a cliché, but it is also true. As BVG's we did help each other enjoy those years.

We have so many memories rooted at the Piggy Park. One of my favorites involved just Elletu and her youngest daughter and my two youngest, my sons. I think we were the only ones at the Piggy Park that day. Her daughter and my older son were able to run free to any of the activities there, such as the slide, the swings, the piggies, etc. Her daughter chose to get up on the flat merry-go-round, and my ever-gallant son pushed her around in a circle. I don't recall how long they kept this up before Elletu realized that someone had dumped some purple paint on the merry-go-round, and her daughter was getting it all over herself.

What a mess, and in those days there was no bathroom at the park like there is now. No way could Elletu take her daughter home in her car, so in desperation she walked over to a nearby church to see if it was open and if she could use the ladies room to clean up her daughter. She hoped to be able to sneak in and get it done without anyone noticing them, but as luck would have it, she walked right in to some women's gathering with her purple daughter.

I think God was smiling when we showed up at the Piggy Park yesterday wearing purple.