oh I wish I were in Dixie- away... away...

so, as I drove Jana & Phil to Houston International for flight catching I couldn't hep but hum the tune, Oh I wish I were in DIXIE almost all the way home on the toll road! I even said the famous saying around here "hug a mountain just for me!" Dang, I AM homesick. I am feeling oh so trunky- like I am on a mission that isn't going to end anytime soon. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my life and I am so grateful for the opportunities here- however, how can you be so far away for so long and not feel incredibly homesick? I am grateful for Bryan and the home we have made here- and I'm hoping that every day feels more comfy here than the last. This is where we are supposed to be for now and we are making the right decision for our family, sometimes right decisions are hard. I can't help but think all the ways we have grown here- and how our marriage has been strengthened. It certainly has been an adventure- and I know after this next baby comes- we will definitely be doing some flight catching of our own- and it will be to good old DIXIE LAND! So for now... i'll just keep singing... oh, I wish I were in DIXIE away... away. I do know one thing for sure- once we make it back to stay... I am sure we will never leave.

One poem that I have always loved but makes my heart ache now is:

The stick together families

The stick together families are happier by far
than the brothers and the sisters who take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make
A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break
And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun
Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done

There are rich folk there are poor folk, who imageine they are wise
and they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties
Each goes searching after pleasure in his own selected way
each with strangers likes to wander and with strangers likes to play
But its bitterness they harvest and its empty joy they fine
for the children that are wisest are the stick together kind

There are some who seem to fancy that for Gladness they must roam
That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far from home
That the strange friend is the true friend and they travel far astray
And they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far away
But the gladdest sort of people when the busy day is done
Are the brothers and the sisters who together share their fun

Its the stick together family that wins the joys of earth,
That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth
Its the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life can give
There you find the gladdest play ground there the happiest spot to live
And o weary wandering brother, if contentment you would win
Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your kin.

Edgar A. Guest