Ahh, a nice little trip

I spent last weekend in Western Kentucky with my friend Greg, visiting his family in their hometown of Benton. We stayed with Greg's parents who are two of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever met and who are absolutely wonderful hosts! We spent a lot of time sitting in their house or on the swing in the yard just chatting. They made me feel welcome and very taken care of. In addition to his parents I got to meet Greg's sister, brother-in-law, niece, grandmother, aunts and several of his close friends. It was a wonderful trip, a great chance to get away and I returned this week feeling quite refreshed! Best of all, I got to fill in a lot of the picture of Greg - many of the relationships and people of whom he often speaks I met and now know. It's a real treat to meet the people who are important to my friends.

Greg says when he returns home it is a renewing experience. I won't speak for him; there are very personal reasons for why returning home is so important to him (he usually visits 3 - 4 times per year), but it seems to me one of the reasons may be because the connections he has created and maintained are very, very meaningful to Greg; many of those connections exist in his home town.

He has a close relationship with his parents, they talk almost every day by phone or email, and on his visits home Greg gets to spend time with his parents and sister. At a young age Greg began cultivating relationships with his grandparents, aunts and other relatives, which he maintains to this day (in fact, throughout his life, Greg has exchanged 100's of letters with one of his aunts). Many of these people live in and around his home town and most visits home he takes the time to see in person as many of the important people in his life as he can - and there are a lot of them! Greg loves people, loves learning each person's story and learning what is important to the important people in his life. He has a huge capacity for maintaining close relationships and gives a lot of his time and energy to others. Benton, it would appear, is where those relationships began and continues to be an epicenter of importance for Greg.

There were several highlights to the trip: the first was meeting Greg's parents. They are so sweet and love chatting, I can see where Greg got his incredible gifts of asking questions and carrying on conversations which seem to flow easily. His dad, who spends a lot of his time helping care for his elderly sisters (Greg's aunts), loves to laugh and tell stories. Community service and taking care of those in need, including family, seems to be very important to him. His mom shares many of those values and shares the same penchant for smiles and laughs. They are just real easy people to get along with and, like I said, made me feel very welcome.

A second highlight was seeing Greg's son, Aaron, who is 14, take a test drive in his grandfather's truck around their property. Aaron came with Greg on the trip; he takes each on his boys on one-on-one trips each year and this is what Aaron wanted to do. He is a great kid, very easy to talk to, smart and very knowegable about music (although a lot of his and Greg's music talk goes over my head as they are very up on the pop music scene of which I know very little). Anyway, it was nice to get to know Aaron a little better. He is one of those teenagers you meet and think, "wow, is this kid only 14? He is going to do great things in his life." Like maybe one day I will brag to my friends, "Yep, I knew Aaron when he was just 14, saw him learn how to drive..." Anyway, it was real cool, Aaron spent an hour driving around the field behind Greg's parents house, with Greg's dad in the passenger seat helping guide him. Although, it didn't seem like he needed a lot of guidance; Aaron seemed like a natural as he drove circles around the meadow, first slowly and, before long, picking up to a pretty good speed. He drove Greg's dad's truck for a while, then Greg let Aaron drive us around the field in Greg's Honda. Aaron had a big smile on his face and I am happy I got to witness the experience. One of the many things I love about Greg is the relationship he has built with his kids and this was another experience where I got to notice that. I know as I enter parenthood Greg will be a role model in how I want to develop relationships with my kids. It was nice getting to know Aaron a better and I hope he and I can also create a friendship.

Finally, another highlight was meeting Greg's aunts, one who is in a long-term care facility and the other who lives alone at home. They both, it seemed from my brief time there, love to tell stories about their past experiences and about the experiences of their forebearers. Greg has spent a lot of time assembling massive amounts of genealogical information on his family and one of his aunts in particular has been very helpful in providing historical information.

Right before we left his aunt's house, she told us how Greg's grandmother calls in requests for her on the Sunday morning gospel radio show (Greg's aunt, his dad's eldest sister, and Greg's grandmother, his mom's mom, have become close friends and talk on the phone on a very regular basis, always ending the call with an "I love you." It is very sweet). Anyway, his aunt said the song Greg's grandmother had requested was one of her favorites, "Amazing Grace." Greg's dad nodded and started to softly sing the words as Greg's aunt joined in. Together, sweetly, they sang the first couple of lines leading into the chorus and it was indeed a sweet, sweet sound.

Maybe that is why I am so refreshed, I got so filled with sweetness you'd think my teeth were going to fall out. Instead I left feeling a warm glow, with a smile on my face, satisfied and perfectly full. It seems in Greg's family sweetness runs in abundance. It has flowed into Greg where it has crystallized into sincerity, kindness and a cotton candy smile. Sugary sweet to be sure, and choc full of goodness and grace.