The Great Chase

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The Great Chase

by Donald Cantrell

Recently, Kinsley, my nine-year-old granddaughter, and I were in South Dalton driving around so that I could pick up a small table that I had bought off Facebook Market Place. As we made our purchase and were about to turn my truck around in a local subdivision, we encountered an ice cream truck.

I asked Kinsley if she wanted a snow cone or an ice cream, and the reply was a deafening, “YES.” So, I pulled up behind this vehicle, flashed my lights and honked my horn, to no avail, as the truck kept on going, but so did we. As I followed the truck, I told Kinsley that it was not going to stop, and I heard this reply, “Poppy, let’s chase it down.” Just like that, the great chase was on as we followed this vehicle to the great unknown.

The deafening shrills and giggles were worth the chase as I got behind the truck and followed it around curves and over hills. The entire chase involved lots of deafening cries of “Poppy, don’t lose the truck, I want an ice cream.” In a matter of minutes, which seemed like hours, the truck made a turn down a dirt road, which was a side entrance to Lakeshore Park, where the truck stopped, with its music playing, and the “Great Chase” ended.

We got out of my truck, and Kinsley began to look at all of the snow cones and ice creams that the truck offered before settling on a Birthday Cake flavored ice cream on a stick. We had set out to go and pick up a small table for my Sunday school class, and before we knew it, we were involved in the “Great Chase” for ice cream. It was as if we were chasing down a stagecoach.

As we got back into my truck to meet our family for a quick dinner before church, I heard the most heartwarming words that a “Poppy” can ever get, as Kinsley said, “Thanks Poppy, that was so fun.” I think sometimes the most fun things in life just happen without being planned. Kinsley knows that I often write articles in this magazine, so she said, “Poppy, when you get home, you need to write a story about this.” I love writing stories about our exciting escapades, but even more than that, I love writing stories in her little heart that will last a lifetime.

As she gets older, she will forget all of the gifts that I have bought her over the years, but she will never forget things like the “Great Chase.” As many of you might know, I have been her “Babysitter” since she was four months old, and every day is a new day of adventure and exploration. The most precious things in life are often free and happen without any planning or forethought. I am so looking forward to the next “Great Chase.”

About The Author Donald Cantrell is a lifelong native of Murray county and has been pastoring and preaching since 1980. He has had the honor of publishing over thirty books and his sermon material is sold all over the world by various online companies. If you visit his house any weekend in the fall you will find them watching the “Florida Gators or the New England Patriots… Chomp Chomp.”