Feeling Like Home

Recently the kids and I and Granddad loaded up the minivan and headed north to Michigan. The trip there was rather uneventful. I did a lot of the driving and the conversation between my Dad and I flowed steadily.

The scenery rushed past the windows and the sun moved across the sky. We went from dripping sweat humidity to barely noticing the humidity.

For me this was an odyssey of sorts.

I was heading up north to see my Mother whom I had not seen for three years. I was nervous and worried that it might not go smoothly. I feared I was taking my youngest two kids into a hornets nest.

It was not a bad visit. It was a wonderful visit. Old demons were not there in the shadows. It was as if my Mother had finally found her happy place. My Grandmother's ill temperament was long gone and not hanging over us anymore. The hot Alabama sun warming up the mobile home in a treeless wasteland was a distant memory.

Hugs aplenty from family all the way around. How warm and opening it all felt. To be whisked inside their homes and treated not as a stranger, but a familiar face. Laughter sounded all around. I was blessed. I slept soundly on a twin air mattress with both kids and at my Mother's house. We ate well. We spent time outside in the warm Michigan air wondering where the humidity was. The trees were a lush green the grass so soft beneath our feet. The dirt roads we traversed were dust filled and stirring up feelings of home.

It was almost as if I had come home, almost the same feeling I get when rolling across the Tennessee border after being in West Texas.

The memories I had of childhood summers there, were fresh in my mind. The warm feelings of childhood and belonging rushed in. Many of the places we went were familiar to me. Even when I ventured to my Mother's little town, I felt at peace.

I could picture myself, my kids, even my husband here. I could envision my kids attending the schools and receiving optimal healthcare. I could see my husband outside grilling. I know there was not a heavy Hispanic influence in the areas we were, but it still felt like a home could be made there.

I am thankful to God for this trip, this time with all of my family.

I also learned a love for IKEA. I now want to decorate my entire house in IKEA furniture and even acquired a few gadgets for my kitchen.

And upon the trip home where once again I did the driving. I studied the roads, since many of these will be the ones we travel to our new home place. I listened to my kids playing in the back of the van. I encouraged my Dad to talk and tell me about things I might need to know.

The realization that I am finally and adult hit me. At nearly 40, I feel as if I am coming into my own.

And then in Kentucky when we stepped out of the van, the humidity hit me hard and I realized that I love the South, but the humidity is not for me anymore.

Be blessed. Enjoy your family. Set aside differences and make an effort to see them. God is Great and so are you.

July 14 2016