BONDING by Sharon Ervin
On one overly warm Sunday afternoon, I phoned and invited two 18-year-old granddaughters––cousins to each other––to go "alley walking" with me. These girls are intense, good students, and keep to tight schedules even in the summer. Puzzled by my invitation, they agreed. No cell phones allowed, except mine, which was off. As we ambled along, talking and seeing all the interesting stuff one sees in back yards, Molly asked me to tell her "my plan for this walk." "No plan,” I said. “We'll walk until we get tired, then we'll turn toward home." She scowled. “I mean, what’s our schedule? ” “No schedule. No structure. No plan,” I said. “We’re just going to walk and talk and see stuff.” Along the way, I pointed out the back of the large frame house where their great, great grandfather lived when he came to McAlester (Oklahoma) on horseback with one of his bro