Open Writing

“Are we there yet?” my daughter asked excitedly for the umpteenth time.

“Almost,” I replied once again, “We’re getting closer.”

I have answered this question many times from each of my children as we used to travel the long distance from West Virginia to Missouri. We were “going home” and Grandma and Grandpa would be there. The children didn’t get to see them as often as we would like and they were always in a hurry to get there.

Even the stops along the way didn’t distract them from their eagerness to arrive at our destination. Who knew what great discoveries might lie ahead at Grandma’s house? There were trees to climb and a pond to explore. Would Grandpa take them fishing? Would they see a deer or a wild turkey in the woods? Whether or not they did, the place was enchanting to the children. A place filled with new and exciting activities. The children knew that there were hugs, treats, and new adventures awaiting them but most of all they knew we were going home and that love was waiting for them at the end of the journey.

The journey home wasn’t always easy. Sometimes we ran into detours, toll roads, and torn up highways; and we wished we had chosen a different road. At other times there were storms, blizzards, floods, and even wrecks. There were times when we were delayed but we pressed on because we were going home.

Since the trip was so long, I began teaching my children to look for certain landmarks as we traveled home. As we left West Virginia, we looked for the archway over the highway that told us when we had arrived in Ohio. In Indiana, we looked for the house that had its porch propped up with long boards and each time we passed it, we speculated as to why nobody ever finished that porch. In Illinois, we watched for the capitol dome as we went through Springfield.

The excitement mounted when we got to the Mississippi River at Hannibal because we knew we had crossed into Missouri. We were really a lot closer now. If anyone happened to be sleeping, they would be awakened by, “Look, We’re crossing the river!” No one had to ask what river it was because we all knew. Different comments were expressed such as:

“Look how wide the river is!”

“There’s a barge!”

“How did people get across before the bridge was built?”

“I know we’re almost home now, it’s not much further.”

As we got closer to home, we could see St. Joseph’s church steeple, which is visible from several miles away because it is the tallest building in the area. It sits high up on a hill pointing toward the heavens, standing like a majestic marker telling us that we are nearing the end of our journey. Although the children didn’t know how much further it was they began putting their trinkets and toys away because they knew we were close when they saw the church steeple. It was time to think about important things like the excitement and anticipation of seeing Grandma and Grandpa face to face. They knew there was more to the journey than the ride; the best was yet to come.

Life seems to be much the same way. As we journey through life, we see a lot of sights and pass a lot of landmarks along the way. There are some roads we choose to travel that take us on detours and other roads we wish we had never chosen to travel at all because of the storms we encounter. Sometimes we wreck or find that the toll was too high, or both. Yet, we learn from the storms, put the old roads behind us, and press on toward home.

We begin to learn to watch for the landmarks and especially the ones that point upward. We know we should think about what is important and put our trinkets and toys away and get prepared for what lies ahead. Although we don’t know how much further we have to go, we know there is more to the journey than the ride and the best is yet to come. We are going home and love is waiting for us at the end of our journey.

Many years have passed by since I traveled with my children and now my children bring their children to see me and they pass many of those same landmarks.

“Are we there yet?” My grandchildren now ask on their way to see us.

“Almost . . . we’re getting closer.” their parents reply.

© May 2006

About Pam:

Pam lives in Missouri with her husband, Michael. She enjoys composing music and writing stories. She writes "Pam's Corner" for her local newspaper, The Edina Sentinel. Pam and her husband are active in their church where she plays piano and he is music leader. They have a CD available called, "I'll Walk You Home". The title song is about her lifelong friend who died of cancer. You can hear this song on her website: http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm

Several of her stories have been published on the internet as well as in books such as The Miracle Of Sons, 2The Heart/People Who Make A Difference, and A Tribute To Moms. Her goal is to write to encourage others and to write stories for her children and grandchildren so that stories and family history will be preserved.

e-mail: pamyblaine@blaines.us