MONDAY THOUGHTS: HOME

I've been in Baton Rouge for a week now. 

I always have a nice time with my big sister. 

I have enjoyed great meals at The Chimes, the church picnic and services at New Gideon Baptist Church, and meeting students and staff at LSU's Cain Center. 

I've spoken to relatives, and visited a cousin in the hospital who recently had a stroke. 

I finally met, in person, his daughter, who I'd met on Facebook and twitter. I regretted the circumstances, but it was lovely meeting her. 

It has been nice chatting with people and finding out who's related to whom, and how. 

Funny, but when I was a child, I had no idea there was so much to do in Louisiana, other than go to church, the corner stores, or visit one relative or another.

I wake up every day, and the sounds of a radio playing, birds singing, trains in the distance, and Community coffee brewing reminds me of my grandmother. 

Even after all these years, it still feels awfully odd not going to her house in Addis, seeing her screen door swing open, and hearing her say, "Ooh! Look at my babies!" 

I just want to go and stand in her yard. Her house is no longer there, but I just want to be in that space. There was so much love in her house. 

When you're a kid, you know who cares about you. In my cousins, I had built in summer playmates.

I'm looking forward to singing at Antioch Baptist Church on Sunday. My grandmother and grandfather are both buried in the church's cemetery. The last time I sang there was at my grandmother's funeral. She had been one of the church mothers and a deaconess.
I remember there would always be someone coming on Sunday mornings to give us a ride to church. When we'd get there, it was always a challenge to maneuver the gravel path while wearing patent leather Mary Jane's. 

I remember the women in gleaming white uniforms; their heads covered with everything from starched handkerchiefs, to table doilies. I remember wooden pews, hymns, prayers, fans, testimonies, and Sunday School.

It's 2012, and much has changed, but the feeling I always had while being here, hasn't. 

I really do love it. 

It's "home".