Butter Dishes

I grew up in my grandparent's home. My mom & I moved in when I was six months old. Raising a granddaughter, I am sure, was not in their plans. My grandfather made life fun for me. He taught me games, he let me help with burning leaves in the outside chimney, he bought me a pool and a hula hoop, and logged hours of pushing me on my swing. The best thing he ever did for me came from the little plastic tubs our butter came in. He and I called them butter dishes.

We had gardened all over the property including a hothouse and a fenced area for wildflowers to grow in. When the flowers were cut down or died off, my grandpa would gather up the saved butter dishes, dig holes in the fenced area and make me a miniature golf course. He used the metal hooks from a croquet set to make obstacles for me to go around. He bought a couple of used golf clubs from a friend. He gathered different items out of his three-story garage and set up a course that Almer Palmer would be proud of. He used plant stakes to number the holes. I had my very own private oasis, which I could play in anytime I desired.

My grandfather would do his work around the house and then ask me if I was up for a game of mini-golf. I am sure he always let me win because he was the sweetest man I have ever known. He created something amazing to keep me entertained. I was always his shadow. We played rounds of mini golf all summer. He saved those butter dishes for years to make the course. He would dig them up at the end of summer and save them for our next year of mini-golf. The course grew more elaborate each year and was always full of belly laughs as we played.

As I grew up I always found time to play a round or two of golf with him when I would visit. He was an amazing man with an incredible heart. He made me this mini-golf course to entertain a little girl, but he made more than that for me, he made memories that I will cherish and carry in my heart for the rest of my life. Butter dishes are amazing things. Those little round plastic butter dishes ended up being an item that connected us, made us laugh, gave us hours of entertainment, and connected our hearts for always. To this day I still look at whatever my butter comes in as a butter dish and remember fondly his amazing heart.