Monday, October 17, 2011

A Gathering of Love

A bonfire, rice and peas, memories and laughter, and front yard football (for those under 40)--there was no better way to celebrate this son's fifteenth birthday than with family.

Family gathered to usher this boy-man through another rite of passage, another step closer to leaving the nest. 

I watch faces as memories unfold, childhoods from long past pulled to the forefront, revisted, remembered, relinquished.   Memories voiced bring healing to hurts and allow hearts to open.  This younger set listen, learning about their mamas'and daddy's roots, realizing now why they are the way they are.

I watch as laughter broadens faces, lights eyes, and makes new memories.  These memories belong to the young ones, making them who they will become, filling hearts and minds for those bonfires yet to come.

Four generations gather, the eldest--my parents quickly approaching seventy, the youngest--their not-quite-two-year-old great-grandson.  Love has come full circle.

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