Reunite

Packing six kids and one for a scout camp out.
Notes to bus drivers.
Rare but precious lunch money stowed.
A primary talk written.
House straightened.
A birthday gift purchased and wrapped for a party.
Plans for animal chores made.
A dress sewn and hemming completed.
Homework done in advance of Monday.
A project ready and a test studied for.
A meal made to ease the burden of dumping six more on a friend's already loaded schedule.
Church assignments completed and some left to delegation.
Personal packing and a lot of loose ends left behind.


All wrapped up neatly with a traditional dose of running for an airplane.

I've lived a lifetime since Friday morning.  Or relived one rather. 


When my parents made the decision to leave my small home town in the heart of Appalachia NC, I felt robbed. Who will hold down the home front?  What will bring me back?  A child's mind sees a nesting place of hugely monumental importance.  A parent sees a resting spot that served it's purpose in the growing of a family.  


And parents move on with their lives once the nest empties, sometimes.


And life's next great adventure carries them elsewhere.  


And as a parent myself, I guess I can see that now. 


So, though high school reunions seem silly at times because one's past is over and done with and looking back can seem so trivial ... I'm a nostalgic soul and not one to overlook an opportunity to return to my roots. Though home again and my to-do list has begun all over in the cluttered front hall wake of a mother's return, my heart and head are filled with the memories of a place loved like no other.

A place, a time, and the people influential in the building of a girl.