Belonging
I just finished reading a book that touched me so deeply and dearly, and wanted to share it with my readers. As you all know, I am an Army Brat and one of my homes was in Germany for three years in the mid 1970’s. Belonging by Nora Krug, talented writer and illustrator provided me with her German experience and of bravely searching for her past to establish her identity.
Don’t we all want to belong? Isn’t that what we search for as we shuffle, run, navigate this thing called life? Ahh….those tricky questions of “Where do I fit in? Where do I belong?”
I’ve decided, it’s with myself, with those who love to laugh (not at others but at situations), the creatives, those who question, color outside the lines, and those who live life everyday as though it is their first. Wonder and awe are two such powerful states of being and it is where I feel most that I belong.
I also belong to my past. It’s all part of me. Why would I deny how awkward and sad I felt when we moved back to The States after living in Germany? Why would I deny feeling strange and on the outside in my new place of work around so many colleagues at least 30 years younger than me? Why would I deny the through and through joy I feel when I look on my daughter’s face?
Your life is all a part of you. You belong to all of it. Tell me a story. Tell me of your life. Tell me something difficult. Tell me something joyous. Please. Thank you for reading. Now, on to the rest of today. I wonder what it has to offer in my state of Belonging?
This is a most recent story of joy and defiance! I took a trip to Fairfax, VA yesterday to find a deed to my third great grandfather’s tract of land on Arlington House Plantation. I knew it would be a needle in a haystack, but I persevered. I met two wonderful historic records managers who helped me through my search. We didn’t find the deed, but I found something quite wonderful. My curiosity piqued and, even though they were officially closed for the evening, I asked to see the old section of the even older courthouse built in the 1700s. As I was standing in the 1700s courtroom, the historian gently announced that the courtroom would be the very one where my 4th great grandmother, Sarah Piper (and subsequently her children) sued for her freedom in 1754. I immediately felt a sense of awe and pride at her determination and resolve to be free! I did not go home empty handed, but rejuvenated. Things may not always go as planned, but... you never know!
I just wrote a long ass comment that disappeared when I left this page to copy and paste something.
Sigh