Isabel dried and put away the last dish and smiled as she surveyed the clean kitchen before heading to her favorite rocking chair in the living room. She sighed as she sank into the gray platform rocker her daughter had given her last Christmas.

Isabel closed her eyes and basked in the knowledge that all her tasks were done for the day. She heard the screen door clap and caught a whisk of woodsmoke in the air. She breathed deeply and smiled; thinking of days gone by.

“Nannie, Nannie, look what I found!”

Isabel opened her eyes to see what treasure her small granddaughter discovered. “Leaves!” There is probably a trail of leaves throughout the house. Instead, she smiled and reached to the child who crawled onto her lap.

“Aint it beautiful, Nannie? I have more too. They are different colors,” the child said as she pulled yellow, red, orange…