A Eulogy of sorts

      My heart breaks as I write these words. Words can't express the deep emotional roots that have grown rich and deep into the soil of a place I call home. I have spent what seems like a lifetime at 2016 Daffodil Road Rock Hill SC. But really its been a mere 15 years. A flood of memories rushes over me every time I think of it. Cold hunt mornings,where you can barely feel your toes.Hot coffee,eggs,hominy grits,and a cat nap after an early morning. Working on the Jeep that loves to break .Just going down old I-77 South for the day with friends. As I have sat and watched my true home be sold like cattle on an auction block I have been mulling over a lot of things in my mind. Its like watching someone die. You can go see them, but you know that one day they won't be there. This land, this place,and these memories bring one word to mind. Reconciliation.This has been a place for my father and myself to rekindle a relationship with my grandfather. This was the place where my dad would come visit "PaPa" as we call him. Time has healed their relationship,but so has The Cauthen Family Farm. I will always cherish memories of riding through the fields at dusk on my grandfathers lap. The old Ford tractor chugging along and almost dying.I could spend days recounting old tales that would make you laugh till tears. One memory, I guess series of memories comprised into one are the late nights by the fire pit. Songs,stories(fibs),and good food has been shared at the edge of that fire. Everyone from city slickers, to country boys,rich and poor have sat around that fire. Each person has their own memories. Each memory is special. This is one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had to be apart of. Things will get better though. As my father and I were driving I-77 north back home the other night. I said "Dad, sometimes the right thing sucks". Sorry I didn't say that in a more lofty pretentious way ha but its true. I will always miss the place I truly call home but I know that it is not eternal. When I die I will not go to the farm. I will arrive at the gates of paradise where I will be forever cleansed of all my wrongs. However, if there had to be a heaven on earth it would be 2016 Daffodil Road. Also my dad and I worked out a deal. When he dies I am gonna sneak back out to the farm one starry night and spread his ashes on our land. It may be not ours anymore, but the spirit of the place will always ring true. No one can replace what happened there. So farewell my dear farm. I will miss everything about you with every fiber of my being and I know many others will too.