Roots

When I was at the Pecan Festival last Saturday, I noticed that the roots of the Cottonwood trees at the edge of the park were visible as they snaked down the edge of the basin. They are huge, and extend pretty far out. As I pause to think about Thanksgiving and our annual traditions surrounding it, it occurs to me that the roots of this family are very similar to those of the Cottonwoods. They are visible, huge, and extend very far, on both sides of The Mister's family. There is an article in today's AZ Republic about The Mister's second cousins on his mother's side:

After several tries, Thompson Alexander Knox II finally spun the side wheel of the restored 1935 John Deere fast enough to start the motor.

When he heard the engine come alive, Alex Knox cheered his son.

"Can I keep it now?" Thompson asked his father, thinking the family tradition would go on.

Knox smiled at the boy and hugged him.

The tradition Thompson started after Knox's father - Thompson's grandfather - gave the BN-model John Deere to Knox when he was 9. That was the day he started the tractor on his own. Back then, tractors were important to the Knox family, which owned more than 300 acres of farmland in southeast Chandler.

Saturday, the Knox legacy, along with contributions from the Shumway and Humphrey families to the city, were memorialized with a kiosk unveiled at a ceremony at Espee Park on Knox Road.

We will actually share a meal with these family members tomorrow as about 100 members of The Mister's family on his mother's side gather for a feast at the Methodist Church. After we eat, there will be introductions by family units descended from The Mister's grandfather and siblings. There will be memorabilia and stories from the past. There will be delicate hand-carved birds handed out to lucky recipients by one of the artist cousins. There will be bored kids who have not yet grasped the importance of their roots, or how unique that is in this age of mobility. And there will be a sense of continuity in the family.

Later in the day, our immediate family will repeat the feast on a smaller scale, here in Higley Groves West, at my sister's house. New offshoots of the roots are growing out here, contributing to the sense of "home."

This begins today, when all 3 of our daughters will come home and we eagerly look forward to "being 6" tonight at dinner.

I won't be posting the rest of the week, and you won't be reading for the rest of the week, so that's a fair trade. Happy Thanksgiving; may you especially enjoy the relationships in your life these next days... they are the real blessing of this life.