Roads

I grew up in the Palouse region of the Northwest in the 1970s where I had the freedom to wander and roam. The rolling fields, lakes, mountains, and valleys of the area had a profound impact on me. There are countless back-country roads that zig and zag across the land, seemingly leading nowhere and yet everywhere: each one full of promise. My family has deep roots to this place. Transitions make themselves felt in tender moments. The tenderness of a 90-year-old mother cutting her husband’s hair the night before his surgery and the excitement and joy on a daughter’s face as she tries on wedding dresses. Not long ago, I was the person trying on wedding dresses. Time is passing by quickly. Growing older intensifies my awareness of the state of transitions. My road, well-traveled, is taking a new turn. My adult children continue finding their own paths and their definitions of freedom and place. Theirs are the roads now undefined and full of endless possibilities. The earth that shapes them is different than the earth that shaped me. They will engage with what lies ahead in their own ways. Increasingly, I will look back on my own path knowing there are still untraveled roads I must encounter.