Sometimes you want to go...

It is like the theme song from cheers-sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and their always glad you came...I am so blessed because I can do this in LA then I can come to Malone and do the same thing....Wednesday night at the Trailside is horse shoe night. Not everyone plays, we all show up;the locals and the "Summer People.". Being from Malone I am a tweener; just like the Trailside itself, I am in between being a local and being a summer person. This is my second summer spent in Malone, tonight the first night of horseshoes. I'll tell ya it was so wonderful to see everyone-and that they remembered me, or had heard about my health challenges, and when they asked how I was doing, they really wanted to know. We have lost so much of our sense of community...cities grow larger, families move where there is work, we end up spread all around this wonderful country-then come summer, a group of people reunite. The year has gone by and there you are, chatting with friends. You share stories about your year, who had babies, who got married, who went to their final restindg place- and in all of it, sitting there both tired and cold such a peace filled me. You can go home again; our families are not only those people bound by blood-our families are people bound by love. At the Trailside I have met people who are so kind, so open, so accepting - I have friendships. Isn't that amazing? This world is so large, people are so busy-times have been tough...however, on Wednesday nights you can head up to the Trailside, know who you are going to see, and pick up conversations as if the winter months never occurred! When I return to LA I feel I am at home, and when I come to Malone I know I am at home. The kindness of other's so humbles me-that Izzy would take the time to read the silly ramblings of my blog-this knowledge just pulled my heartstrings. When we begin to give share our humanity we need to break it down-yes, there are people who choose horrendous behaviors, yes we get hurt, we get knocked down, and our bodies betray our spirits-what we once could do, well we just can't do those things anymore. So we reinvent ourselves. We adapt, we overcome, we look to one another for support..and in those moments, moments like this evening when the kindness of someone's words or actions touches the very core of our heart, it is how we build a reservoir of strength, cause that winter will be coming-time and responsibilities will send us off in different directions-and we will start counting the days until it is horseshoe night at the Trailside.
Growing up I often wondered why Mommie so wanted to own a bar/restaurant. It wasn't until I was much older that I could understand; Mommie loved people, she loved to give of herself, and she wanted to create a place where everyone would know your name. I don't know what plan God has for me(believe me I have asked many a times over the past few months!) I pray I make it
for another summer in Malone, and I pray I see my friends at the Trailside come horseshoe
night. I hope it is in my deck of cards, in everyone's deck of cards...we will climb
mountains and cross valleys, having a Wednesday night amongst friends-that might just be the
little extra gas in our tank which keeps us moving-movement is life. However the futures plays out, the peace I felt this evening is beyond any words I could write-it is a feeling I wish for everyone because it is so wondrous! Some may say all of this is silly. That is all right
I have been called worse! The faster life gets to spinning us the more we need a time slower-downer(is that a word?) Oh, I reckon many people would say I am just looking through rose colored glasses (what are rose colored glasses?) if given the choice, shouldn't all of us view the world with such magical glasses? We do get to choose. In and of itself, the power of choice allows each of us to search and to find a family around a horse shoe pit. That is pretty darn cool!