Reconnecting with family In Oak Creek Canyon

 

Reconnecting with family- a rekindling

They say a fire needs several components to keep it alive: fuel, oxygen, and heat.

To keep a family burning strong you need a few essentials also: investment of energy (fuel), tending (oxygen), and gathering (heat).

 

 

One part of my family fire was burning low.

Through countless circumstances, mainly unwanted miles between us, our fuel source was left lacking.

When we moved away, our intention was to visit often. 1,247 miles and a negative checkbook balance made that impossible.

 

 

When a sudden work stipulation required another move, 1,731 miles away, it was even more challenging.

Each log in our fuel source was saturated from challenging life events. Our love never wavered, but our energy to fuel the fire ran low.

 

 

Without the ability to stoke our fire, it smoldered from the lack of oxygen. Instead of fuel added to it, each of our individual life challenges threatened to steal from our reserve.

Without the vital energy and tending, we were unable to gather. And togetherness is where we’d feel the heat.

The love and comfort of each other’s arms gathering our bodies close.

 

 

Thankfully, oh so thankfully, this year was different. This precious, life-giving year, dropped up a fresh cord of fuel. The miles were put under us as the metal wings of a jet flew us to our tending places.

This year, we gathered. Twice! (You can read about the first trip here).

 

 

 

We gathered. We loved. We talked and hugged and told stories and listened closely. We share home space and meals and silliness and seriousness.

This day, this one of a kind, special family event kind of day was perfect.

 

 

When I say perfect, that is not intended to suggest that it without any crackles. We still had discussions about where, how, when, etc.

But even when a fire pops and shoots sparks, its beauty is not diminished.

Everyone was able to take the day off work, and we drove to Sedona to hike along the gentle paths of Oak Creek Canyon.

The weather was perfect. The time was a delight. It was a gift.

 

 

“We do not remember days, we remember moments”—Cesare Pavese

 

 

See this dirt path? I stopped and my family walked ahead. I gave thanks for each footprint.

Because of all those that tread ahead of me? This particular grouping included my family. A few people short of our complete crowd, sadly (they were missed), but still…

My people.

 

 

As we walked under the trees? These people are branches in my own.

Relationship is everything to me. And I will carry these memories with me.

 

 

 

I will look at these cousins walking with hands connecting the 15 years between them.

And I will give thanks; and for my part? I will never again take for granted the essentials in keeping a fire burning strong.

 

 

I know that in this modern age family is often spread across the country, the world. What suggestions do you have when travel is prohibitive, to keep the family connections?