Tuesday, August 14, 2007

beyond the postcards.

my grace frank has been to grenada before (and by my grace frank i mean my unconventional maternal grandmother who we don't dare call grandma).

upon hearing my upcoming plans, she has given me four gifts:
a basket of spices, from "the spice island," that still remain fragrant.
a few old school three by five photographs from her venture there in the late eighties.
a postcard from grenada, already addressed to send back to her in wilkesboro.
a compact tolietry case.

now my grace frank has traveled to a lot of places. but of all the places in the world i could of ended up, its kind of neat that she's been there before me.

and its kind of crazy that i'm going to be there in a week.

even though i read about it. i hear about it. i see pictures. i still can't wrap my head around what life will be like. but maybe that's the point. maybe its about experiencing people. and cultures. and life. first hand. beyond the postcards.

still many things to pack. many details to figure out. many goodbyes to say. many hugs to give.

only to be followed by many things to unpack. many more details to figure out. many greetings to say. many people to embrace.

dear grenada. i will see you soon.

1 comment:

Liz said...

one of the neatest gifts i ever recieved was from a woman in my home church. i went on a mission trip to guyana in 2004 and when i told this woman, who was probably in her late 80s, she sent me a letter with an old browned photo. she told me that she had been to Guyana once, many years ago - she actually lived there for almost two years! the picture was of a woman there, "miss kitty" - who she worked with and loved. it was a treasure that she had passed on to me - the picture of a woman in a plain white dress standing outside of her home. when i was there, i asked around about miss kitty and the church we were working with knew of her well! she had passed away a few years earlier - but it was so neat to carry that legacy from guyana to florida to kentucky and then back to guyana. i still keep her picture in my bible. what a blessing for your grace frank to pass her treasure on to you. :) best of luck with the packing!!