At Last.....

  Welcome!

        Well.  It's time.  Time to go and greet the brother she hadn't seen in 20 years.  Time to meet the woman who has so graciously offered her a bedroom in her home, to get started on her new life.  They had actually gone to the same high school, but were a few years apart in age, so the memories of her were faded with time.  The directions were easy, the house just as had been described.  She pulls into the driveway, noting that her brother wasn't home from work yet.  There are kids in the yard that immediately come running to the car.  She's never met any of them, but learned all about them from the many phone conversations during her last months in Ohio.  Climbing out of the car, she's engulfed in hugs of welcome and excitement.  Tears threaten, she hasn't felt this welcome by anyone in a very, very long time.  Before she can catch her breath, the car is being unloaded and she's being led upstairs to the bedroom that's been painted and prepared just for her arrival.  There's lots more in the car, but that'll have to wait.  There are more greetings to come first.

    The lady who had offered her a home, walked in and opened her arms in welcome.  As dinner was being prepared, her brother came in and wanted to know who'd parked in "his place"?  And with Ohio Plates!   More hugs of welcome and tears of long-awaited reunion.   Home. At last.  She had been gone so long that it felt like moving to a whole new town, and finally a whole new life-lived for herself, lived the way she wanted,  lived with the knowledge that she has control of her own life now.  A brand new start.  It will be good, it will be all hers.

    And it is.  I have some complaints about life's minor problems.  Who doesn't?  But all I have to do is look around me and see the town, the trees and wildlife, the lakes and rivers, the family that is imperfect, as only family can be and get away with it.  See all that means so much, and my heart swells with gratitude forthe opportunities for happiness, peace and a life well lived.

   Home!

    Thanks for joining me for some of  my most precious memories.  For being here and welcoming me into a community that adds so much to my daily life.  For a connection beyond this place I love.  For that I am grateful, too.

                           ~Thanks For Stopping By~