until I am in the South

I often forget about my mother’s people.. I associate myself  more with my father’s journey.. the immigrants story..

the story of  brothers.. one staying and one leaving for America… overcoming hardships and prejudice..

 

I forget about my mother’s people.. until I am in the south.. in Virginia.. where they originally came from..

 my great-grandfather was Daniel Webster Trigg… of the Virginia Triggs.. of the Abram Trigg line..

a farmer and a revolutionary..the family grew ..from Virginia to Kentucky  to Mississippi

where my mother’s father was born.. 

 

I never think of myself as a person with Southern roots..

although I recall my grandfather making fried grits on Sunday mornings..

and a trip to Mississippi and Georgia when I was young to visit Aunts with dark brown eyes like mine..

 

 until I am in the south.. where traveling along the Colonial Parkway takes you back to a time long ago..

where the trees are so thick along the road you almost feel like you are cocooned in green..

reaching around and up above you ..

they stretch out to touch each other..Wisteria blossoms here and there..

 

Dogwood blooms stark white against the green thickness..  

and time stands still..and with a deep breath and sigh.. I am home.

listen to the music..

We lost someone this week .. a young girl.. passed through this world much to quickly.. with too much difficulty.. it makes me angry.. I want to yell .. “Stop Taking Them!”… I want them to grow up and old.. find love and joy..

I feel overwhelmed by the intensity of my feelings about death.. cancer and my commitment to stop both.. I find myself searching out song after song that has some meaning to me and find relief in them..

I see trees of green… red roses too
I see ’em bloom… for me and for you
And I think to myself… what a wonderful world.

I liked that song or enjoyed that artist… I find words and phrases and lilting music fill my mind and touch me like never before.. a gift ..one of many received..  How can the world be so evil and so good.. so selfish and so giving..

I see skies of blue… and clouds of white
Bright blessed days…. warm sacred nights
And I think to myself… what a wonderful world.

I wonder what brought me to this place.. and then the message comes loud and clear.. why have I wasted so much time doing so little and how can I do as much as I can in the time I have left..

The colors of a rainbow… so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces… of people going by
I see friends shaking hands…..sayin’.. how do you do?
They’re really sayin’… I love you.

I wish I could gather them all.. like flowers from a field.. and keep the close for me to watch..

I hear babies cry… I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more… than I’ll never know
And I think to myself… what a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself… what a wonderful world… oh yeah!

 I cannot save them all.. or any of them for that matter.. so for now I will listen to the music.. block out the heartbreak.. and know that God’s arms are around those that could no longer fight..

Rest In Peace ~ Amanda Gavin