I just recently went back home to Texas for a visit with my family. It wasn't a planned trip, but it was a great one. I woke up one Sunday morning and realized I needed to go home, so I packed up the kids and we set off for Texas. (Thankfully, I have a husband who is understanding and supportive of my whims. Love you, Babe!) So I got the car loaded with luggage and toys and diapers and....so on. Then I loaded the most precious cargo, my babies - a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old. (Proof that I was desperate to go.) The trip went great and I have to say I have amazing children. They traveled like troopers. No screaming. Naps were taken. It was great! Truly!
Now I know some of this is going to sound really funny and way out there, because it is. I just don't know of any other way to describe what I feel. So keep that in mind - I don't really "believe" the weird part of the following.
I have always loved Gone With The Wind! It is one of the best all time books and movies made (in my opinion). Anyway, I love the scene where Rhett and Scarlett are walking around Tara after the war and he realizes how much the land and the place of her childhood means to her, not only emotionally but mentally and physically. "You get your strength from this red earth of Tara, Scarlett." And she always went home when life got tough. At the end when Rhett leaves, she is unsure what to do, but remembers her home. "I know. I'll go home to Tara." And she can figure stuff out. I guess. The author ended the book. (and the book Scarlett is not an ending.)
Anyway, as we got further into to Texas, I could feel myself mentally and physically sigh. And then it was as if the land sighed too. I know weird. I told ya it would be. Now, I don't believe the land literally sighed, but I just felt at such peace to be home. It was wonderful. I met my dad at the half way point that night and was welcomed home. It was great! I understood Scarlett's feelings for home. My strength was in going home to Texas.
We ended up spending about a week and a half with my folks. I got to see my best friend from high school, my sister, brother-in-law, kids and my cousin and his family. Again, it was wonderful! I miss being around family sometimes. It was a restful time for me and I think the kids. They had a great time with their Granny and Pawpaw, and Suga, my mom's toy poodle whose real name is Sugar but isn't pronounced that way by a certain 2 yr old. And yes, it is said with a wonderful Southern drawl. Love it!!
But it was finally time to come back home to Colorado. As I started driving, I began to realize that my parents gave me a great gift. They gave me roots and they gave me wings! They gave me a home that is truly wherever they are. They gave me a place to go back to when this life is too much. They gave me ....... Tara. And I began to pray that for my children, "God, help me to give my children roots but also to give them wings!" It is my roots that take me home to Texas, but it is my wings that bring me back home to Colorado. I love the adventures I've had in first leaving Riesel for Dallas, then to Denver, then to Pennsylvania and then back to Denver. I've gotten to fly and highly recommend it.
I might not want my children to "fly" away one day, but I hope they do and I pray that I've created a place for them to come home, sigh and feel that peace.... a Tara.
