The One Who Comes From Far To See You
But here's the thing, when I woke I was like: YES.
The one who comes from far to see you is one of the best things that can happen in the world. It seems like the title of a novel that should be written. A t-shirt that people should be able to buy just prior to making a pilgrimage to see that friend of family member who lives so far. Like a kind of ritual garb that you should wear in order to make the pilgrimage feel as holy as it really is.
That's my brother, Daniel in the photograph. The older we've gotten the harder it is for (all of) us to travel, but that trip that he took was full of the chaos of our young children and a big kerfuffle that may or may not have been caused by neighborhood-Maddie and her Michael Jackson game? But I can guarantee that there were other adventures too. Delicious food, daytrips, laughter, political speculation, family stories and happy strumming of the guitar that he and my sister gave me to replace the other guitar that they stole.
I forgive both of them all of it because of how many times they have come from so far to see me. And how that is only one of the many symbols of how richly they love me. I'll let them steal all my guitars and all my ship blankets as many times as they want.
But this post is not only about my siblings. It's also about my parents, my friends, my former students who became friends, my childhood friend Glen Pettigrove, my graduate school host Greg Snell, my filmmaking friend Gary Lundgren (who came from Oregon to Ohio so that counts), and so many others I have written of elsewhere.
This post is about the fact that when the one who comes from far to see you comes? The world tilts in the direction of the visited one. And it tilts at such an angle that an unexpected amount of love re-colors the lights of their every day world. And that light lingers as long as the memories do.
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