Oh my heart, my soul does break, each time I drive on these broken roads. I tell myself, ”do not despair, this too shall pass, we shall prevail”. A time to end, a time to begin, from the old to the new, we enter this season with a reason to hope. I know this is only a means to an end, a phase in this process to setting the next stage. So I try to rise above this sorrow, but I need to be real with myself. Take a breath, say a prayer, feel the pain, let it go, start again. Gotta change my point of view with a different attitude & remember this truth; that life goes on in other places, but life is also what we make it. It’s easy to feel lonely & alone in the crowd of unknowns, when family & friends have packed up & gone, taking all that was left. Those who stayed to carry on, like Wayward Sons & Legion Daughters, marching forward like onward soldiers. When this historical news story stopped, the workers came & cleared our burnt lots. They piled up charred logs on rubble plots & downed our crumbled homes. It’s hard to drive through our rustic town, with flag twirlers, tree stompers, Deere drivers & more. There are many hardworking women & masked fellows, in bright colored vests of orange, green, & yellow. On a new normal day of driving through town, I patiently waited as the road crew directors continued to stop all the anxious moving traffic. I watched all the busy bee action, then made my way around the cone lined lanes & headed on up to visit a newly opened place. I passed you by, I saw your face, don’t know your name, but our eyes did meet. Can’t say I looked your way before, but saw you shopping in the grocery store. Now we wave, we say hello, we briefly shared our surviving story. A friendly stranger, now a bonded friend, closer neighbors, kindred spirits. A hug, a handshake, a smile hello, has much more meaning now than ever before. When loved ones come to meet & greet, visit home or sit & eat, my heart is elated, my soul is touched, it soothes this sudden break-up. There is a time to grieve, a time to dance, a time to cry & a time to laugh. Sometimes just listening shows we care, shares the hurt, helps heal each other. Let’s take a chance, one by one let’s take a hand & stand together. These times my friend… we are a changing.
