Going home

I've got a break between shows, and I'm heading south, folks.  Where I hope to goodness it's warmer than it is here.  I think it will be wall to wall family for the next 6 days, and I'm all right with that.  It's time to pay homage to roots.

I want to go visit my aunt, who I haven't seen since my grandmother died.  Sometimes you need to visit people to make sure they know they are important to you.  Sometimes you don't.  There are people who are important, and you know deep in your bones they will always be important, and they know they are important, and it never goes away.  I'll admit these people are few and far between, but they are yours, somehow, and nothing really changes that.

But family doesn't always know this.  They know they are family, and that there's a certain obligation there, but not how you truly feel about them.  Wait.  I realize I'm making some serious assumptions here.  This is the way it works in the polite south, where if people have been well bred enough, you can't tell if they truly want to pay homage or are just going through the motions.  (Side note to the side note - well bred has nothing to do with money or race, I'm using it in context of taught polite behavior.)

So, you are supposed to pay homage to your elders, pay them visits, give them attention, listen to their stories.  That's how you show respect.  But I actually love my extended family, so I want to see them, I want to visit and listen to their stories and lavish them with attention.  I want my aunt to know that I love seeing her and eating far too much at her table, that she's always made me feel as if she's in my corner, that I appreciate both the sacrifices she has made and the things she has held onto.  I have four aunts, actually, and I can say that about each one of them.  My last few visits have been rushed, and I've not had enough time to see everyone.  I miss my aunt, and I want to show up so she knows she's important to me.

Now I just have to convince my mother to come with me.  That's the wild card.

I get six days of wild card, folks.  Complete, total wild card.