Home is where the heart is, they say. So I’m home in Tallahassee and I brought my heart with me. Nearly two weeks ago I arrived home to see the bulldozers and big trucks in my back gardens. My very aged oak tree was gone, the crew was grinding up the stump which measured 16 feet in diameter. My heart sank, my home barely touched by its fall. It is amazing, hard to believe, but slowly the process begins to re-create a new canvas. I loved that tree, I should have told her that more often.
6:00 pm. This is Amtrak’s Train # 53, it is rather full, sprng break, I think. There are 473 passengers on the train and 186 vehicles, 131 cars, 55 vans and 1 motorcycle. There are 16 passenger cars and 24 auto cars. This trip cost me $179 for me and $179 for my car. Alittle higher due I guess to spring break. It is a 17 hour trip to Sanford, Florida. What else do you want to know? Please don’t ask the lady’s name in the window reflection. I have no clue.
10:30 am. I’m squeezed n my full to the brim car, all packed, leaving Baltimore in route to Lorton, Virginia. I’m glad the Amtrak AutoTrain station is only 60 minutes and that I’m not driving this loaded car to Florida.
This picture is not Easter Sunday, but I am positive it is a Sunday morning. We are headed to church. We never missed in fact we all have perfect attendance pins that prove it.
Lanny, Susanne, Monte, Gary and Gene, we are family. I have been thinking about my childhood this week as Easter was an important time then and now for me. We didn’t get lots of candy and stuff, maybe an Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard, but I have other memories. I remember getting all new clothes, including underwear, socks, shoes, a barrette, the whole outfit was new. We celebrated Easter, the risen Lord, a new beginning. We started the day out early at Sun Rise Service (in our new clothes), then Sunday School and then Church. As usual our mother would have a lovely dinner planned and ready in the oven and then back to evening church, in my new outfit. I can still smell that roast beef smell coming through the door on any Sunday as we walked into the house. We sang He Arose, at every service and I still have that hymn and others memorized in my head.
It was a tradition and I remember it so clearly. It is who I am, grounded not so in the traditions like I experienced as a child, but in my faith, a child-like belief, but those hymns like He Lives still ring in my head and heart as “He walks with me and He talks with me”…Easter memories in my life.
Today the office took us out to lunch, we had cake too. It was Ann’s birthday and I was leaving Baltimore. It was really nice to be celebrated. I’m not saying that in a boastful kind of way, but with a deep down appreciation for the moment, hearing kind words and saying a few myself. I guess we can’t celebrate with cake everyday, but the give and take of kind words was really nice.
When I arrived in Baltimore, most of my shoes were Florida kind of shoes. I had a couple pair of boots, but Florida shoes don’t work in Baltimore. This morning I’m paying tribute to these boots. Yes they have been my favs, they have stood the test, they might not look that great on the outside, but it is the inside that counts. I’m leaving them in Baltimore, they would not be happy in Florida. So I’m acknowledging tough love and embracing the truth, I’m saying goodbye. Closure comes in many forms, zip it up and move on.
Only 35° this morning, but this spring snow is peppering down in this early morning picture, still coming. It is providing lots of slush and clinging to tree branches and wires in a heavy kind of way. It is so beautiful though, maybe I’m enjoying it alittle too much as I leave for Florida on Saturday. For now, I want to soak in the beauty of this spring snow fall. Ok?
OK, just on the Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center that is. This weekend Laura had purchased tickets, we went up and I had my own personal view guide.
A wonderful day, a birthday, mine. Yesterday was the day, but it was awesome to celebrate for the last few days. In NYC or Lauraville for breakfast at Cookie Road, NY Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show, a visit to the Top of the Rock and a view of the city. Then really
topped off with a birthday dinner party served at Laura’s place with my favorite homemade Red Velvet Cake. Did I say dressed in our look alike party shirts? (Gift from the hostess.). Happy Birthday Mama.
Do I need to say more? I don’t think so. There was one variety that my dad would give to my mom to wear on Easter Sunday.
It was there too.
susannefortune 