by Nile Horton

Created on: November 18, 2009   Last Updated: December 03, 2009

My parents got separated when I was 2 years old, and about a year ago, I got to get re-acquainted with my father. I went to go see him in North Carolina, not knowing what to expect. When I got to his house, the first thing that I noticed was the big vegetable garden in the front of his house. I became re-acquainted with him when he told me that my grandparents still lived with him and that they were both upstairs sleeping. He asked me how life had been for me while he wasn't there. Eventually, I asked him about the garden. He told me that I could help him in the garden tomorrow. I couldn't help but get a little excited.

The next morning, my dad was shaking me in bed. "Get up boy!", he said. "Do you sleep all day down there in Texas or what?" I looked at him for a few seconds and asked," What time is it?" He stared right back and said," 8:30." It felt way earlier because of the Central Time vs. Eastern Time difference. I rolled over on the my side and attempted to go back to sleep when I heard my grandmother call me from downstairs. "FOUREE!", she called from downstairs. I hadn't seen her in years, so I got up out of bed. "Saved by the breakfast bell.", my dad said, and smiled at me. He went downstairs, and I went to brush my teeth and wash my face. After I was done, I went downstairs and went to go see my family downstairs. "Hi Fouree!", she said, very excited to see me. I was always confused that my grandparents called me by my middle name. We had a nice conversation and began to eat "corncakes", which are like pancakes, except they are made with cornmeal. After eating many corncakes, my dad called me to go out to the garden. He had cucumbers, red peppers, green peppers(which were even hotter than the red ones), watermelon, grapes and tomatoes that came in that day. I got the job of washing all of the fruits and vegetables that we picked and taking them from the bucket that we placed them in and taking them inside and dropping them into the sink on the porch, where my grandmother would cut up and can the cucumbers in vinegar to pickle them. While she was cutting and pickling, I decided to go see my grandfather, where he would relaxing on the swing on the front porch. He was a reverend, so he would always be preaching to me. I walked outside and said," Grandpa!" and gave him a big hug. "Hi there Fouree. I'm glad the Lord finally gave me the chance to see you one more time."

"Nile!", my dad called from the garden. I ran to see what he needed. "Can you come

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