Day Fifty-Two: Knee-Deep in Roots

The longest that I have ever lived anywhere is thirty-nine years. I was born and raised in Anderson County, South Carolina. My family has been in the Upstate of South Carolina, in Anderson, Greenwood, and Abbeville Counties for over 200 years. That’s some pretty deep roots!

They say that you don’t realize how much something really means to you until you no longer have it. That is true. For years, I felt like Anderson had a force field around it and that I would never be able to escape its clutches and begin my “real life”. I couldn’t wait to get out of there to somewhere grand and exotic. I didn’t realize or appreciate it then, but I was already living my real life, knee-deep in it, in fact.

I celebrated my fortieth birthday in Wharton County, Texas, our new place of residence. It was coming here that taught me how very much South Carolina was a part of me. We have been here six and a half years now and the longer we are here, the more I want to go home, need to go home.

That isn’t meant to be. The lesson that I am to learn out of this is to bloom where I am planted, even when the very things that give me life, put breath in my lungs, are over a thousand miles away.

52. I am thankful for a rich and colorful family history. I am thankful for the discoveries that I have made concerning those that came before me, those that caused me to be. I am thankful for Andrew’s sharing and for finally finding Granny Williams. I am thankful for family then and family now.


One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are