Waltzin Across Texas

The rock we stand on.

For 10 days in late February I traveled roughly 3,000 miles with three people I would take a bullet for. This trip was months in the planning, when four 50 somethings decide to take 10 days off from reality there is alot of planning involved. In the months leading up to the date of departure, appointments had to be canceled or re-scheduled, time off from work had to be arranged, grandchildren had to be born and cowboy boots had to be purchased. This is a group I have traveled with in the past. We have seen the Badlands together. We have been to Mount Rushmore. We have threatened to throw each other in the sulfer pools in Yellowstone and we have camped in the mountains of Idaho. The last time tho as near as we can figure was 1968.

Flash forward to 2012. My folks "winter camp" in southern Texas. For three months each year they are "Winter Texans". They re-aquaint with friends from all over the country in an RV park down south. This winter, my two sisters and one of my brothers cleared our schedules and decided to go and see what they were up to. We spent 4 days in their world. We arrived at a place that felt like home. For 4 days we were welcomed like family, hugged by strangers and felt completely accepted by some very cool people. The generation we spent time with has been around along time. They have seen good things and they have survived bad things. They live in a world they never saw coming and they do it with style. Computers, cell phones, dvd players, computerized gas pumps, they take it all in stride. They come from many backgrounds, many career paths, they have raised children and grand-children, they have buried children and grand-children, they have held on to  marriage and to life as hard as they can. They paint, they carve, they read, they play mean hands of cards. They dance, they laugh, they plan. They never give up.

My sisters and brother and I could have flown to Texas. People asked why we didn't. Although flying would have been faster, that was never what this trip was about. This trip was about belonging. These are the people I belong to. We grew up together and never let go. We took off from Minnesota on a dark Monday morning and returned on a dark Wednesday night. In 10 days this is what I learned.

1. I know nothing about music.
2. You can't get through Kansas without some kind of bad weather.
3. Iowa is the state of historic smokestacks and silos. I saw neither.
4. If you want to see how to do a memorial right. Visit Oklahoma City.
5. Texas is big.
6. The Texas 2-step is best taught by an 80 year old. Thanks Bill.
7. I make a mean Bloody Mary. I never intend to stop perfecting my recipe.
8. In 3 states you can go from jeans to shorts.
9. You can drive in silence for miles and only feel peace.
10. Gratitude.

Then there is this:  On the last night we were in the park, it was western night. The main hall was decorated in high style. Everyone came in their "Cowboy Finest". The band was made up of musicians from the park and an elegant couple that came to "make up the band". We ate, we danced. At one point I looked across the dance floor and roughly 50 men and women including my sisters, my Mom and I were all line dancing together. The final song of the night was a song I played over and over at my Grandmas when I was a child. It was a Marty Robbins tune called "You gave me a Mountain this time". When I was a child I never knew that someday, God, would give me a mountain.  It was the perfect song at the end of the night. I walked across the floor and asked the man who five years ago I layed my head on his chest and broke into a million pieces, to dance.  I took my Dad's hand as the steel guitar played"This time, you gave me a mountain. A mountain I may never climb. It isn't a hill any longer, you gave me a mountain this time."

This is what I know: There is a Johnny Cash song done with Dave Matthews Band called "For You". The lyrics are "The 1st one in...the last one gone. I'll be the rock to stand upon". This park was full of those people. The 1st ones in...the last ones gone. If you want to lead...it must be who you are. My Mom and Dad have layed down the lessons well...they have always been the 1st ones in, the last ones gone. They are the rock we stand upon. In 3000 miles and 10 days the biggest lesson I learned about my sisters and my brother is that we are those people too. I spent 10 days with my past, my present and God willing, my future. It just does'nt get any better than that.

till next time.