Swing in waiting

I grew up with my wonderful godfather's handmade swings all around me: at my grandfather's farm, at my godparents' home, and at their cottage. My uncle Jim's swings held me, my sister and my cousins all of our lives. We loved them. When I was young, my Uncle Jim said he would build me a swing as a wedding present. That was a long time ago, and I was sure my uncle didn't remember it. When John proposed last year, my mother told me that my godparents wanted to give me something special. Since I was marrying so much later than I'm sure my godparents expected, I didn't feel I could really ask for the swing. I wasn't sure my uncle even made them anymore, and they certainly take some work. My mother made the suggestion to my uncle, and to my complete delight, he agreed to make one. It turns out he is still very active in the swing-making business.

Our swing is now ready, and we love it! The photo on the left shows our disassembled swing, which will be transported from Bryson to Ottawa in pieces. The photo on the right is of my godparents' swing, to give you an idea of how it will look when it's put together in our backyard. At our request, my uncle didn't paint our swing. It will stay natural cedar, to match our back deck and balcony. It will age to a greyish silver just like our cedar decks. The cedar comes from my Uncle Allen's farm, which was previously my grandfather's. It means a lot to me that this very special piece of my past will be a part of our future.