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Life, actually…
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COMINGS AND GOINGS IN THE DEEP SOUTH
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Unfettered thermometers exceed the 90 mark on this gloriously brilliant sunshine day.
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A covered-dish family reunion is taking shape in the foothills of Appalachia, and I am here to bask.
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Relatives I haven’t seen in years exit the heat. They suddenly glory in the air conditioned environment of an immaculate countryside building where communion and comradeship are taking place.
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Kinfolk I can’t name mingle with longtime familiar faces. As each family lays out victuals to share and compare, laughter and tears combine. People I can identify only by sight welcome me as one of this sweet tribe. People I know from childhood grin and comfort me as I pass among them. Hugs are offered and accepted.
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This reunion is a sharing of memory and expectation. Invisible ghosts of people no longer here, wend their way through the crowd as we share stories and anecdotes about them. We miss them, but we are happy that they no longer feel the pain and sadness of departure.
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We pay close attention to those of us still present and accounted for.
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We take our time listening and sympathizing. We talk and signify.
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The long table of gifted food is aswirl with homemade dishes, freshly plucked fruits and vegetables, carry-out goodies, thawed-out casseroles, steaming tasties and chilled crunchies and shockingly addictive desserts.
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We honor the toddlers and revere the nonagenarians and compare, always compare.
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This is our way of seeing live and in person the people we are slowly beginning to age like, our way of remembering how beautiful life felt when we were young and thankfully clueless.
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We are all having such a good experience being suspended in time that we don’t want to leave. And we re-experience the trademark of our tribe: the long, long goodbyes.
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Each farewell takes as much as an hour as we attempt to hold and fist-bump and shake hands without leaving anybody out.
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In memory, the long long goodbyes will have to last till this time next year, when once again we aim our vehicles toward the sacred gathering place where familiar souls commune
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Jim Reed © 2021 A.D.
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Weekly Podcast: REDCLAYDIARY