SOME MEANDERINGS I JUST DISCOVERED FROM 2008…SEEMS FITTING TO SHARE    ON THE 50^TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON AND AFTER SEEING ‘THE BUTLER’ WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND! 

Once in awhile, I just need to share...been on the road a ton these past weeks with the 'Brits', my affectionate nickname for our UK family...it was a busy busy but fun fun time....after leaving them at OHare to fly home, I went to sit for AJ, our 10 year-old grandson who is a delight to watch as he walks through the politics of our time with his very real interest...anyway, I was privileged to watch the recent election results with him...in doing so, I was reminded of where I was and where our country was when I was his age...sharing that with him brought a richness to the experience that I did not expect....THAT is what I need to share....YOU, once again, are the ones I come 'home' to so I share it with you.

 When I was 10, we would go down south to visit my mother's Kentucky family....I LOVED it...and them....it was a 2nd home to me...nonetheless, it was the South so I witnessed the difference in races....Grandmother and Granddaddy lived blocks from the 'colored' part of town...we were allowed to walk there, but it clearly was a different place than where the 'whites' lived...there was a subtle racism within my grandparents...I did not ever hear the 'N'' word from them but rather witnessed a generation that simply accepted the South as it was and leaned into it....we were not to ever intentionally hurt a 'colored' person...we were better than that....most likely, we were better than them.

When I was 10, I lived in a tiny apartment in Chicago about 5 miles from downtown...we went to Grant Park when company came to show them THE CITY...sometimes that company was our Kentucky family....we always locked our doors as we drove thru the city and we always went to Buckingham Fountain, Skid Row, the Loop, Lincoln Park, Grant Park...it was fun to show them 'our kind of town'....they loved it...we loved it....we did not talk about race, as I remember, but we always locked our doors...I was, after all, just a kid so it may or may not have been a topic...I doubt it, however....it was the way it was...so be it.

Then, the country began to look at race...and I had a first row seat, as well as a childhood that had touched on both sides of the issue...all of a sudden, I understood on a personal level how the silent subtle messages had impacted me....my family...our nation....all of a sudden, it was wrong to be silent...as a teenager, I came alive to the issue and will forever be grateful for the times I lived in as well as the depth and breadth of the personal experience that opened my mind and heart...

...and brought me to November 4th, 2008, in front of a TV with my 10 year old grandson watching a celebration in Grant Park, MY home town, my kind of town, honoring an African-American President....who WON some Southern voters, even some white ones...and tons of  'colored' ones....beyond words for me....

...so I hugged my grandson and tried to 'show' him my heart and I called my granddaughter who had cast her first vote ever that day for the winning President who happens to be HER same beautiful  'color' and I cried....

...and I thought how I needed to tell someone so I am telling you...this less a political statement than a personal statement about how I connected the dots of 60 years of living and, for a moment, with my grandson, celebrated the wholeness of the picture it drew.

I pray that the dots he and Amber and Joey and Nik and Seth connect will draw an even richer picture....at least, the dots from this week are a good beginning...the rest is up to us.