Libations

I am starting this day with gratitude. This beautiful rock makes me think of a grandfather. Strong, centered and looking at everything from a higher perspective. I admit I have an idealized image of a grandfather because I never got to meet either of my grandfathers. One had died long before I was born, and the other died while I was just a toddler. Both had strong impacts on my life.

Even though I never met them in the flesh, I had many consistent reminders about them in my life, and so I know that they helped to shape the man I have become. I think about them on this "Labor Day" because I know that men and women like them worked hard to create the choices we may take for granted. We can choose to rest or work or travel on this day. We can choose where we want to live. And even in this strained economy we have some say in where and how we earn our living.

Both of my grandfathers were communicators. One was a soldier and a gifted musician. From what I heard, he had a way with words, of making his reality seem better than it was. From what I heard, it paid off for him in the end, he died having created the material comfort and security he lacked in his youth. He also put his wandering nature to good use by serving in the military. I am grateful that I inherited some of his traits and learned to make peace with them.

My other grandfather was also a wanderer. I don't know what kind of relationships he formed, I definitely do not know the full story. I know my grandmother really loved him and had seven manifestations of that love. I know he was sometimes a healer, sometimes a preacher, sometimes a trickster, sometimes a romantic, never boring. He spent his life surrounded by people, he was sought after, but he died alone. From him I have learned an appreciation of my gifts, to enjoy my extroverted nature, to be open to the new, but also a valuable lesson about appreciating family and friends.

Through both of my parents, I was given secret coded messages about their disappointments with their fathers, but also the child's sense of fascination. I don't think the "super hero" admiration of one's father truly fades. My own maturity has helped me ferret out the love and joy that are natural components of my grandfathers' legacies. My own growth has awakened in me a willingness to be the voice for their unspoken prayers, the hands for some of their unfinished work and the feet to extend their journeys.

I honor them with love and gratitude. Libations from my heart.