My sister-in-law Sissy and brother-in-law Jim had
sold out and were headed to Oregon to live near their children. My nieces,
Brenda and Sherry, have spent the past weeks helping and they were all flying
back together. The plan was for them to spend the night and I would take them
to the airport hotel Sunday.
Saturday,
they arrived from two different places. Not sure how many were going to be
here, I cooked a scary big pot of chili and had deli meats for sandwiches. As
people began to arrive, I made pot after pot of coffee. Soon my house was
wall-to-wall people. Just like the old days.
My niece, Sherry, had her video camera going, just
like Jim used to. It reminded me of the two of them talking about their
multitude of family tapes. “We’ll have the history, Uncle Jimmy. Everyone else
will forget, but we can watch our videos and remember.” She was correct. So
many slices of life would be forgotten without video.
The house filled with laughter as we visited. “You
know who would have really loved this?” I asked as family gathered in the
kitchen. “Jim. He loved spending time with family. Sometimes he would come home
and say, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re having a jam session—and I invited everyone to
dinner.’ Of course, he’d have no idea just how many were coming.”
Sherry and I walked out into the yard to
reminisce. “We want to reminisce too,” chimed in my granddaughter and
great-niece.
“You’re not old enough to reminisce,” I said.
“I’m half of sixteen,” my great-niece said. The
two girls seemed to be joined at the hip.
They entertained with dance routines and songs,
advertised with posters announcing various show times. They stood on the porch
steps, facing the flag, hand over hearts and sang the National Anthem. My
six-year-old grandson stood at attention and saluted the flag. The scene was
amazing and touching, especially considering the flag they used was my autumn
“Welcome” flag, with pumpkins on it. In their eyes, it was as valid as the
stars and stripes as they sang the song without missing a word.
Sissy and I sat at the table watching the
commotion going on outside with four-wheelers, interactions between cousins,
older and younger. “You can sit right here and be entertained,” she said.
“It’s like watching a reality show, isn’t it?” I
agreed.
Saturday evening, Sherry and Brenda went to a
Halloween party with my son, Rob, and daughter-in law, Stacey. They came in
laughing and joking at midnight. One of the highlights was Brenda winning the
costume contest, without a costume. Of course, it helped that Rob was the
judge. He said she was dressed exactly like his cousin Brenda from Oregon.
Sunday morning the time change helped us all get
up earlier than we thought possible. After coffee, we fixed a big
breakfast—biscuits, gravy, sausage, eggs—and then Rob and Stacey tackled how to
fit all the Oregon bound family’s luggage into the trunk of my car.
Amazingly enough, it all fit except a small
overnight case. Early afternoon, we loaded into the car for the drive to the
Airport Hilton. We stopped by North Kansas City Hospital so Sissy could visit
her sister who had been admitted a few days earlier. Then I took them to the
hotel.
Sherry checked them in and Sissy sat in one of the
big comfy couches in the lobby. Jim and Brenda were loading luggage onto a
cart. When they opened the trunk, I was impressed by the neat arrangement of
luggage. There was not an inch of wasted space!
I hugged everyone, determined to keep it light and
happy. “I’ll be seeing you,” I said. I jumped in my car and drove across the
parking lot where I stopped to have Onstar plug in the directions home. As I
sat there, I thought of Scotts Mills, Silver Falls, Crooked Finger, the scent
of pine on a breezy mountain. I thought of Jim and how he loved Oregon and
visiting his childhood places. But I didn’t cry. I just smiled and whispered a
prayer for happy trails until we meet again.
Copyright (c) by L.S.
Fisher November 2013
Copyright October 2026 by L. S. Fisher
