Signs and Whispers

They are all around us...the tiny whispers from the wind, the sun, the trees, the ocean, the thunder...and the quiet. After a busy day I found myself driving home, missing my family, wondering about my mom, hoping my dad was safe and praying that my babies don't miss me as much as I do them...I never want them to feel this emptiness. I drove parallel with a storm in the distance and I turned the radio off. After I did it, I laughed at myself and thought, "why would you turn the music off?"

And then it hit me...I need to hear the world's music, the quiet, the rush of a passing car and the far off thunder. I needed to SEE the view I caught in my rear view mirror of the setting sun and the silhouettes it created off the City Beautiful's landscape. I smiled a lot, I cried, just a little, because I remembered the times I rode with my Mom and Dad in the Monte Carlo...all of us in the front seat together, sandwiched close and full of love. Mom drinking a cold Coca-Cola out of glass bottle and Dad with his arm around her.

Mom and Dad used to try to get me to take my headphones off, or whatever it was I had in my hand to keep my mind occupied. They wanted me to be still and SEE the world, really SEE all the tiny things that with my young eyes I took for granted. Dad would pull off the side of the road and point out a marvelous cloud, Mom would smile at the setting sun and I'd roll my eyes.

I suppose as we grow up, we grow out too. A landscape I would've never noticed or a sound I would have never heard, I now see. I now hear. My parents are no longer together and as a child them NOT being together just never seemed possible, so it's hard to know they no longer share the love for each other they once did.

Growing up in Ohio, Memorial Day weekends were always a time for family. Grilling, Frisbee, lawn darts, swimming, laughing, bonfires, fireworks and time together. I'll soon be 31 years old and I find it so hard to swallow at times that those moments were so fleeting. Much of my family is split and gone in so many different directions, as life often does. Yet it still hurts my heart and soul that we're not all together.

Memorial Day is meant to be in observance of our dedicated military men and women, which much of my family is or has been and I'm proud of each of you and thank you a million times. However, each time I hear MEMORIAL DAY, whether it be an over-zealous commercial for a furniture store or as a salute to our troops, I REMEMBER...and I remember in abundance!

So for all the time Mom and Dad wanted me to stop and see...I hope that they both know how much they really did teach me to SEE. So much so that now I strive to help others SEE and preserve their priceless memories.

Happy Memorial Day! Be Safe!

Rachel (and Bill)