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.

breath…

the poem is borrowed.. dedicated to a gal I work on with on Relay.. she noticed it on a t-shirt and commented she is always saying it.. not sure if to herself or others.. but when she saw it on the soft blue t-shirt.. she smiled and said she was always saying it.. it seemed to be a favorite and you knew watching her as she held the shirt up to read the word clearly.. she was doing it at that moment.. 

breath…………

you have to release and let it leave your lungs to even say it.. with it goes tension, disillusions and frustrations…

breath………….

it allows you to stretch out your body .. important to a yoga pose..  calms nerves before walking on to a stage and helps bring babies into the world.. it helps you through pain, misunderstandings and keeps your body from its instinctual flight fright reactions..

when people say.. stay calm.. they mean breath….

I draw sweet air
Deeply and long,
As pure as prayer,
As sweet as song.
Where lilies glow
And roses wreath,
Heart-joy I know
Is just to breathe.

~ Robert Service

I need to go back and get that shirt..

 

 

On a clear day.. you can see forever.. pay attention

I am listening to music.. lots of it.. trying to find a song to use for a survivor lap around the track at Relay.. so many  songs.. so many messages.. I want something happy.. not sad.. upbeat.. bouncy and fun.. but it has to be clear it is a victory song.. for a victory lap.. my 6th time walking the track since my first diagnose.. but I keep finding music that I loved growing up.. and find myself lost in the tunes and the lyrics..

I keep coming back to a Streisand song.. probably completely inappropriate for Relay and totally perfect for me.. my parents used to play records.. my mother loved loved music..I remember my mother and my Aunts paying the piano at my grandparents house.. my early teen years were also the years of those moody love songs.. and I grew up playing those records over and over even though. not really my generation.. they took root in my heart and I still love them when I hear them..

On a clear day
Rise and look around you
And you’ll see who you are.
On a clear day
How it will astound you
That the glow of your being outshines ev’ry star.

You’ll feel part of ev’ry mountain sea and shore.
You can hear, from far and near,
A world you’ve never heard before.
And on a clear day…
On that clear day…
You can see forever and ever more!

My days become clearer and clearer and even though I sometimes sink into my troubles.. not understanding the reasons and whys of things.. a phone call or an email will clear the clouds away.. and I see again.. I am blessed because of the reminders God sends me of why I am here.. of why I matter.. it a clear day…  I see forever ..