Sunday, April 19, 2009

Where I Come From


This is the greeting you will receive as you are entering the town where I was born. It is a place where you are called ma'am and sir, because that's still expected and taught to their young ones. Where groceries are carried to your car by some sweet lad, that's not allowed to take tips...that's part of his job. Where greetings and waves are normal, even to strangers. But, while walking those streets, you do not feel a stranger. You are always a very welcome part of the community.
Where they are proud of their Irish heritage...history is, that in 1863 it was already called Erin. Because the Irish in the work camps, said it was so like their beloved Ireland with it's lush, green hills...beautiful!
So, tonight I am missing my home place...my beloved Erin. Where I feel so deeply connected. Yet, having spent most of my life in Michigan, I do not feel that same connection...this flat land, is not my land. The hills and the red dirt claim me...beckon me. White Oak creek still sings my name. And I, but close my eyes and hear the voices of my past...whispering this is home.

Love to all!

7 comments:

Samantha said...

Hi Margaret,
Happened upon your blog through a friend of a friend and read your post, I was lured to it through the big Black ~TENNESSEE ~ letters.
I live in West TN and have all of my life, and yes, it is a place where people still wave at you, greet you even when you dont know them and make you feel very welcome. Isnt the south, just a truly special place.
Hugs and blessings to you !

Constance said...

Girl I SO know what you mean!!! I am a mid-westerner born and raised. When we travel through the heart of this country, I feel a peace and a sense of connection to my past.

Having said that, we plan to retire out west where the majesty and grandeur of the mountains takes over our senses! (I sound like a John Denver song!) There is a feeling so strong that sweeps over me that I can't shake. It calls me and says "You Are Home Now". The first time I went to Montana, I cried as we drove down the road! Certainly if I believed in reincarnation and all of that hoo ha, I would swear I had lived there before!

Our ties to the land are strong ones!

"Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything," he shouted, his thick, short arms making wide gestures of indignation, " for 'tis the only thing in this world that lasts, and don't you be forgetting it! 'Tis the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for-worth dying for!"

(Gerald O'Hara to Katie Scarlett O'Hara in GWTW)

Connie

Trish said...

Oh, Connie...John Denver felt what he was writing about! And that quote from GWTW is so utterly perfect
and he was Irish!!!

Mrs. Mac said...

Top O' the day to you Miss Trish ... In your hometown's honor, I shall fly my Irish Brigade flag today :)

Céad Míle Fáilte

Trish said...

Samantha... so nice that you stopped by and yes, the south is a truly special place...nice to meet you ma'am!

Felisol said...

Dear Trish,
do you know the first time I went to Ireland, I felt like I was coming home.
Ii was welcomed in a way I never thought possible,- and I was a stranger.
That's way I'll always return
to the emerald island.
And..of course at the age of fourteen I cried my eyes out reading Gone By The Wind.
Never came over that book either.
From Felisol

Deb said...

Tennessee...one of the most beautiful states in our country!