The road.

 

“The long and winding road

That leads to your door

Will never disappear

I've seen that road before

It always leads me here

Lead me to you door.”

We’ve all been there, especially if we have ever left our home and come back again. The feeling of turning down that familiar road, knowing every driveway, mailbox and name of every neighbor— you anxiously know you’re about ready to be home. You have the opposite feeling when you leave. I always enjoyed the coming rather than leaving…funny, I still do when I leave my family and return home after any trip.

I haven’t been to my hometown in a number of years; I was close by, but skirted around as it was after a long driving trip and felt funny about just making my presence without anyone knowing I was nearby. I was wrong to do it, this is my family after all—-I will never do it again.

One of the things I love to do when I travel the road back home is visit my parents. Sure, they are no longer waiting up for me and there’s no dinner in the oven, but when I go to where they now preside, I know I am not imposing upon them. As they aged, my parents were pretty much home bodies; I would walk through the same door (never the front door) and would take the exact same path to the TV room and the chair that awaited. After my Mom passed away, it was my Dad who would wait up and of course ask, “Have you eaten?” Even if I hadn’t, I would always say, “Dad, I am fine.”

I was talking with my son today and he was really interested in gathering more information about my Dad and his Dad. He has been to the homes/apartments where my Dad grew up, but when he started asking about the grocery store my grandparents owned, and how rough of an area they were in, I could tell he knew “grandpa was pretty poor growing up” and his life was much different than what he had experienced.

There’s a road I have traveled a number of times and it is one I will always treasure; sure, it has changed since I first drove it so many years ago, but it’s the memories that lead me down the path that will never leave—-and I will never let them.

The photo above was taken right before we were sidelined by the pandemic. It was taken in Arizona, in the middle of a road leading to Phoenix. Yes, I did look before I sat down to make sure no cars were coming; part of my reason for taking it… was a reminder that for someone who had not been home in a while, this was their long and winding road back home.

Thanks for stopping by.