Joyful by Shelley Shepard Gray

Author:Shelley Shepard Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Though he, Micah, and Neil had elected to not bother with a large garden this year, Randall still found himself slipping on his soft, worn leather gloves, grabbing the old tiller, and preparing the soil for planting season.

Working on the garden gave him a link to his parents, and as he worked the soil as the sun rose over the fields, he allowed himself to remember them both. As always, it was a bittersweet exercise.

His memories of his mother were starting to grow faint. Oh, he remembered her blond hair always neatly arranged under her kapp. And the way she seemed to always know what all of them were doing at the same time.

But other things were starting to fade. He couldn’t quite remember what her voice sounded like. Couldn’t quite remember what she liked and what irritated her.

His memory of their daed was clearer, but more filled with pain and some anger, too, if he was being honest. Their daed had grieved so deeply for their mother that he’d become increasingly distant after her death. Sometimes Randall feared that their father had only considered his children to be a constant source of stress and worry. And reminder of the wife he had loved and lost.

They had all tried to give their daed time to grieve. Impatiently waited for him to snap out of his self-imposed isolation and begin to do more.

But that didn’t really happen.

Months later, when it became apparent that their father wasn’t going to be able to overcome his sense of loss, they’d all turned to Junior.

And Junior, at the too-young age of twenty, had borne their needs without a word of complaint. Before long, Randall was ashamed to remember that he’d simply assumed that his older brother would take care of things.

And Junior had. He’d slowly become head of the family, putting his needs last and the rest of theirs first. Doing his best to be both mother and father to little Kaylene. Even letting Levi sneak in his room at night when their little brother had bad dreams.

And now it was Randall’s turn to keep things at the Beiler farm running smoothly.

Once Randall was satisfied that the rows were nicely tilled and the soil was prepped enough, he walked to the barn and got the bucket of onion, carrot, and potato seedlings he’d been holding on to.

Then he knelt down, pulled off his glove, and started digging into the soft earth with his fingertips.

“You always did like to play in the dirt,” a voice said over his shoulder.

Randall looked up, grinning at his brother’s appearance. Honestly, it was as if he’d just conjured him up. “Junior. Hiya. I didn’t know you were coming by today.”

When he made a move to get up, Junior waved him back down. “Don’t get up. There’s something about watching you plant that always makes me smile.”

Smile? “I’m not going to ask why.”

“Okay.”

He couldn’t help himself. “Okay, why?”

“Because you dig like Mamm used to. It didn’t matter how many spades Daed bought her, she would disregard them and make perfect holes with her fingers.

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