we use to call ourselves family, a big family of brothers, sisters, and other siblings.
at least that's what the norm seems to be around here.
but families have parents and nieces and uncles and great grandparents and... well, i think you get what i mean by now.
we all know our auntie shan. she's pretty much the only one who's taken a family-like role, isn't she...
but now i'm wondering, do the people here feel like family to you, and what do some of the different family members feel like to you?
my own family would be like...
shantel would be my auntie. i don't think i could think of her any differently, other than maybe an uncle. but they're basically the same when it comes to nb, i'm quite unable to understand if that would make any difference.
jacey would be my nephiece or something like that. that cute genderless kid. (wonder which sibling's child they'd be...)
satinjoy would be a cousin who visits often and confuses me when i try to play with h'er. because girls confuse me a lot, even if they can be a man at times too.
julie is something like a cool grandma through complicated family relations. we have lots of complicated relations in my family, but for some reason we all love every new part of the family. julie feels like that type of person to me. someone who might not even be a grandma but became like mine anyway.
mark... would it be mean to make you a pet in my family? dogs have a special place in families and are deeply loved. other pets can be loved the same too.
ativan feels like a long lost twin. shocking similarities in people who have lived shockingly different lives. a connection that didn't have to be made simply because it was already there.
feel free to disagree with me.
these are just examples of how i feel about some of my friends here.
those who were missed will have to remind me, i'll find a place for everybody who's interested.
(it's just a game of curiosity, let's not take it too seriously, while still being honest.)
I think you have it pegged pretty well Taka, the only change I'd make is that Mark would be my little one I used to protect from bullies. You are quite sensitive to the different personalities in our family here, I completely agree about Julie being a grandma. It has nothing to do with her actual age though, but is more about that knowing sweetness she seems to exude.
Well I hope all you family members are keeping warm, it was 24 degrees F here this morning which is chilly for this area.
we're freezing to death at night. i'll have to move into a different room. or rather, i have to finish the writing desk i'm making in that warmer room.
so mark's my cute cousin then? that works too.
you're right about the ages. they don't matter at all, it's the feeling that matters. julie'd be the coolest grandma ever.
i just remembered i forgot about df. i'll make her my little sister. i like little sisters, i even have a male little sister on some other forums. he really wanted to be a little sister so it seemed right to adopt him as that.
but now i'm wondering about how other people relate to this family of ours...
please tell me of your own family members too.
I love this thread. Must reply later due to time, and will misgender due to it being relational...no offense it will be the strength I pull from
Taka. Big brother
Sootball baby with arms up to be carried
Julie. Sister
Patty mother
Ativan father sorry dear friend for male gendering
Shantel grandpa
Jayce little sister
Suzi twin sister
Df teenage sister
The vamp wild little brother that keeps running away
Aisla close brother
Mark cousin, and home here a lot,
More later, cousins abound.
When I saw this thread I cried.. that is how close I feel to all of you.
And I am little innocent sister, just starting puberty.
The misgendering is not gender perception. It's the components of you I am drawn to and lean on hard to get through the day.
Love to all from Satinjoy. Sorry I did not get everyone.
Is anyone upset about the gendering? Because everyone is so much more than one.
rofl... this family won't connect in any sensible way at all.
my half/step sister also being my grandma... it's probably possible but... haha
satinjoy, you're my little sister now. that does feel more right in a way.
sootball feels a little weird about being called a baby, but it likes being carried around so it doesn't matter.
sootball will be your baby, and then it will baby you when that feels righter.
*jumps on satinjoy's shoulder and squirms a little before sooting up h'er eyes again*
At the risk of mortally offending (and totally misunderstanding, not to mention misgendering) half the people at Susan's, I'll put in my associations.
You, my dear Taka, would be the cousin who lives way on the other side of the continent, who I have the feeling I could have a very special relationship with if we could see each other more often than once every few years and only at busy family gatherings. (I have a RL cousin sort of like that.)
LordKAT would be an older brother who has lived a very different life from mine, but cares anyway.
Aisla an older sister who I've always been a little in awe of.
Ms. Grace would be the aunt who is always there with aunt-ly advice and a hug.
Suzifrommd would be another aunt, who I disagree with a lot, but treasure for her open heart. (I have a sister-in-law like that.)
+ + +
This exercise is kinda hard for me, because my experience of family is of people with whom I have never had a relationship I could rely on. They do a passable job of acting like we're family when it doesn't require much effort, but when push comes to shove, whatever relationship we have evaporates.
The only people whose relationship I think I can trust are my two sons, and it's an asymmetric one, like most parent-child relationships. I have two sisters-in-law who seem a little more authentic than my birth family, but they're awfully prickly, which I don't know how to deal with.
Quote from: Taka on November 13, 2014, 08:46:13 AM
rofl... this family won't connect in any sensible way at all.
my half/step sister also being my grandma...
Ever heard the song "I am my own grandpa"?
Quote from: Asche on November 13, 2014, 09:01:56 AM
Ever heard the song "I am my own grandpa"?
yes, i did. that's why i'm saying it could be possible, kind of.
i'm sorry that i can't seem to find a good place for you, asche.
it's almost like we're siblings who grew up with each our parent, never getting to know each other properly.
I'm not the type that people consider family. Considering my experiences with family and non-blood related people I've called my family, I'm not really the type to feel comfortable calling people family. I hope no one is offended by that.
Quote from: Edge on November 13, 2014, 12:25:56 PM
I'm not the type that people consider family. Considering my experiences with family and non-blood related people I've called my family, I'm not really the type to feel comfortable calling people family. I hope no one is offended by that.
Speaking for grandma, grandpa, the kids, nieces and nephews we'lll give you a pass on that and honor your wishes Victor!
Quote from: Edge on November 13, 2014, 12:25:56 PM
I'm not the type that people consider family. Considering my experiences with family and non-blood related people I've called my family, I'm not really the type to feel comfortable calling people family. I hope no one is offended by that.
not gonna force you into this family thing. was hesitating on giving you a role, i could only see a somewhat unsocial brother who decided to leave the family because he'd rather be independent on his own. i get a feeling it would be better to have you as a friend or interesting acquaintance.
Quote from: Taka on November 13, 2014, 01:12:47 PM
not gonna force you into this family thing. was hesitating on giving you a role, i could only see a somewhat unsocial brother who decided to leave the family because he'd rather be independent on his own. i get a feeling it would be better to have you as a friend or interesting acquaintance.
I am happy with that.
Cool grandma eh,
I'm flattered that you think I'm cool - I dunno about that. But I'm grandma Julie to lots of people all ready, and delighted to be included in the tribe. So when you get sick from sitting in a draft Taka . I'll make you some chicken soup from scratch. The kitchen will breathe the smell of roasting bird, then smile to the savory smell of the stock gently simmering. Finally I'll add the barley and sauteed vegetables. Once the bread comes out of the oven everyone will gather for conversation and a light meal, before the Akvavit is poured and the poker begins. ;)
Julie
Would somebody please wipe Satinjoy's tears, and tell her that dinner is ready?
j
yeah, that sounds like a good family to me. aquavit is important too, i'm happy to meet people who even know what that is.
let's invite our friend edge too?
Wouldn't be a party without them. :)
Family we most certainly are. My birth family included 13 kids and our parents in a 4 bedroom home that i left at 16 yo. I've never had my own bedroom and love/need to be in frequent contact with close friends who are now my deliberate family of choice. We talk, play and hangout while our banter and games are never replaced by that box emitting sounds of football. The traditional definitions of family have changed considerably over my lifetime. We celebrate mixed marriages and countless permutations that work just fine. Here at Susan's we can find the annoying, angry, sharing, caring, insightful and loving people that are more than a stand in for what we may have lost or never had. As we move toward the winter solstice and, for some, compulsory family gatherings, it seems vital that we also celebrate and value our family right here. Sure we sometimes bug each other but part of that is likely because you have real esteem in our eyes and family matters. You have made a tremendous difference for me. I know it may be a trite bumper sticker cliche but LOVE MAKES A FAMILY and I love you too.
Tessa my sister,
Without you there could be no family for me. :-*
Julie
ah, tessa!
i forgot who you are again... i know your face, but haven't connected it properly to that name.
time to remember it...
i'd like to call you my eccentric aunt. eccentricity is a positive trait, colorful and attractive.
i'll pick flowers on my way to visit you.
Yup, just like that you make me feel so very good and laugh till I cry.
Thank you
I have been told that I'm an eternal teenager, so teenage sister suits fine ;D
I will have to have a think about this, so will post tomorrow when I've rested.
Little sister reached up to big brother in takas house. Sh'e smiled an open and innocent smile, emotionally drawing h'er protection from him. ...look out the window...Sh'e said..
Snow was falling and auntie grandpa was out busting up wood. There was already a roaring fire in the home of takas family. Food was cooking, people chatting, laughter is in the air. Julie is pulling herbs, and mom and dads are trying to figure out how they landed in this unexpected marriage.
In the drive a skateboard sings, the little vamp runs behind it, wanting to play too.
Big brother has his little sisters hand. It's going to be ok, the past was dark, but in this house, joy will prevail.
It is our house, a special house, the house of taka, the house of trans.
Who is here, shall we play hide and seek? Where is jayce hiding, nothe notshe?
Who is in takas house, what are they doing?
It's big brothers house and thread...welcome home, my brother.
taka is cooking and watching satinjoy run around creating the most adorable fuss.
right now, i'm starting to realize we'll need something for dessert if the whole family is gathering here tonight.
should ask the kids to help out, because sootball is already trying, and it will create a terrible mess if left to its own devices.
i could use some help with the cooking tooor we'll end up with only curry for dinner...
Oh our family home is just filling with delicious smells and easy talk punctuated by laughing kids running in and out. I volunteer to do dishes as my cooking skills are limited to knowing how to operate a microwave.
yes! i love you tessa!
i'll cook anything as long as you just do the dishes.
they're my second worst nightmare.
Cake! Let's make cake!
The teenage sister bursts in and starts to imperiously direct her siblings
"You go and get some raspberries from the garden, and you go and get some eggs from the chickens for the cake batter!"
Carefully Satinjoy wraps a potatoe in foil to help, puts it on a metal pie tin, and sticks it in the microwave.
Sh'e finds a stool and happily hits the start button...
taka shakes his head at satinjoy and reminds her that tinfoil goes in the oven.
no sparks fly in the still dark microwave, for taka has been smart enough to install timers in the kitchen.
after all, naps can be dangerous is time flows faster than planned.
sootball has come bouncing on satinjoy's shoulder, concerned about her misuse of microwaves. relieved to see that nothing happened, it invites taka's little sister to bake cake together with the teenage sister.
Little sister goes to look for the easy bake oven in the attic and a light bulb....
Wonder what the big family is up to, and who is who?
I wonder who they are to you, like big brother said, before little sister stole his thread?
It will be cool to tell taka who you are, who you would be...
I am happy to be Taka's eccentric aunt. Just likely to bring a pie from the bakery but forget what time the gathering is and arrive a day early. "Oh no problem dears I'll just sleep in my old van down by the river."
why would you sleep in the van when i have a guest room for those who arrive early...?
so i'm the center of attention now.
huh, weird. i know i started it, but... only because i'm interested in the rest if you.
would also be nice if one of the aunties could look after satinjoy.
someone seems to have brought dangerous toys to the attic, and i can't cook while throwing out all the things that don't belong in a house full of kids.
you'll all get well burnt food if nobody stops disaster from happening.
Quote from: Taka on November 14, 2014, 05:33:22 PM
why would you sleep in the van when i have a guest room for those who arrive early...?
so i'm the center of attention now.
huh, weird. i know i started it, but... only because i'm interested in the rest if you.
would also be nice if one of the aunties could look after satinjoy.
someone seems to have brought dangerous toys to the attic, and i can't cook while throwing out all the things that don't belong in a house full of kids.
you'll all get well burnt food if nobody stops disaster from happening.
Don't worry Taka, I am looking out for satinjoy!
Quote from: Taka on November 14, 2014, 05:33:22 PM
why would you sleep in the van when i have a guest room for those who arrive early...?
someone seems to have brought dangerous toys to the attic, and i can't cook while throwing out all the things that don't belong in a house full of kids.
you'll all get well burnt food if nobody stops disaster from happening.
Well this old girl and her dog snore a little and fart frequently enough that we leave the windows open ;) We will help you move the bear traps, toxic moth balls and loaded shotguns from the attic to a safe place.
It's really good to see everyone taking care of each other. Its heartening to see that people have these connections. Everyone look out for your people, okay? Family or no, it's the only way to get by.
i hope there are no shotguns in the attic. if you find any though, they aren't mine, and i'd like to get the fingerprints off them.
my own guns are kept safely in a place only i have the keys to.
Quote from: captains on November 14, 2014, 07:18:08 PM
It's really good to see everyone taking care of each other. Its heartening to see that people have these connections. Everyone look out for your people, okay? Family or no, it's the only way to get by.
wait a sec... are you leaving again?
stay for dinner at least, won't you.
Quote from: Taka on November 15, 2014, 03:05:06 AM
i hope there are no shotguns in the attic. if you find any though, they aren't mine, and i'd like to get the fingerprints off them.
my own guns are kept safely in a place only i have the keys to.
wait a sec... are you leaving again?
stay for dinner at least, won't you.
Yeah Cameron, thought we were going to do three shots of Stolys afterward, hopefully I can clear up my sinus's.
Aw, ->-bleeped-<-, y'all are making it real hard to act tough when you do things like invite me to family dinner. I'm gonna tear up right here in Starbucks like some kind of schmuck. I ain't emotionally equipped for niceness before 11am.
I didn't mean to gate crash! You guys are good people. Just wanted to swing in and say so outright.
Quote from: captains on November 15, 2014, 12:12:42 PM
Aw, ->-bleeped-<-, y'all are making it real hard to act tough when you do things like invite me to family dinner. I'm gonna tear up right here in Starbucks like some kind of schmuck. I ain't emotionally equipped for niceness before 11am.
I didn't mean to gate crash! You guys are good people. Just wanted to swing in and say so outright.
Be careful, no triple shot lattes for you Cameron, you might become a real handful in that case. Being family isn't gate crashing, I have your adoption papers here to prove it.
so it was cameron who crashed into the gate?
doesn't matter, that thing was old anyway, was about time to make a new one.
come in, dinner is ready when we can just get the table set.
Satinjoy and Julie sat together at the table with auntigrandpa Shantel. Both.looked hung over emotionally.
What happened they said.
Family happened.
Then Satinjoy asked if they could fix their racecar and take it out again, maybe give Julie a thrill.
It's fast, very, very fast.
kids in a hurry to get hurt can take their gravity racers to the hill behind the barn.
i'm not sure how well skateboards or rollerblades work on farm roads, but we could always ask our godmother fairy mark to asphalt it. should only take one wish upon a rainbow colored snail...
long and steep enough to get hurt if you crash, but not too many things to crash into except each other.
we'll go skiing when winter finally brings enough snow.
Race Car! :) the one without brakes and scary steering. Are you going to let me use it again? You said that you were going to take off the wheels until I learned modesty, and good sense. Oh goodie! When's dinner?
i think everything's ready now, so please sit down by the table and remind me of everything i've forgottwn to take out.
i only know norwegian food traditions after all. or maybe they're originally finnishthe traditions some of us have. flat bread, lingonberry jam, milk... they're essential to every meal, even if it's curry.
racing can be done after we eat, and you have helped tessa with the dishes.
Happily - Is there Red Pudding With Cream On Top for dessert, and can we sing Per Spelmann?
red pudding... that strawberry tapioca pudding we call jelly?
or are you asking for something i didn't make?
we'll have all kinds of dessert, chocolate mousse too. with vanilla sauce and whipped cream and... homemade caramel pudding!
per spelmann can be sung. i'll teach you a couple saami songs too, and you'll have to teach me you own personal favorites.
Quote from: Taka on November 16, 2014, 11:18:10 AM
red pudding... that strawberry tapioca pudding we call jelly?
or are you asking for something i didn't make?
we'll have all kinds of dessert, chocolate mousse too. with vanilla sauce and whipped cream and... homemade caramel pudding!
per spelmann can be sung. i'll teach you a couple saami songs too, and you'll have to teach me you own personal favorites.
There goes my figure, I should say there it went! I wonder if my butt looks fat in these jeans? :icon_evil_laugh:
haha. we're still celebrating my birthday. "tomorrow" there will be healthier foods, and no sweet desserts.
i've lost my figure too, should start working to get it back before i get too old.
Quote from: Taka on November 16, 2014, 11:18:10 AM
red pudding... that strawberry tapioca pudding we call jelly?
or are you asking for something i didn't make?
we'll have all kinds of dessert, chocolate mousse too. with vanilla sauce and whipped cream and... homemade caramel pudding!
per spelmann can be sung. i'll teach you a couple saami songs too, and you'll have to teach me you own personal favorites.
When I was very young, at Christmas time my mother would make a special treat. Probably "jelly" its name is garbled in memory but was something like rodgrot med flote Which my father said meant red pudding with cream on top. We would eat it at the table and then put butter, cinnamon, and sugar on lefse and sing carols as a family around the tree. Sorry for spelling, I'm on my phone and can't look anything up. It's is funny, but for those moments I was me and not the charade. Then Christmas morning we would open presents and I would smile until I could go to my room and quietly cry for the doll I never got.
Quote from: Taka on November 16, 2014, 12:23:35 PM
haha. we're still celebrating my birthday. "tomorrow" there will be healthier foods, and no sweet desserts.
i've lost my figure too, should start working to get it back before i get too old.
Oh I must be half asleep if I missed your birthday, here's belated B-day wishes! :icon_birthday:
Me too Taka, Happy birthday! 35 more and you'll be all caught up. What do you say Shan, want to stick around for that one?
Peace,
Julie
oh, rødgrøt. yeah, what would you call grøt in english... not really pudding, puddings can be cut with a knife.
porridge, gruel, very thick sauce, are things that look more like norwegian grøt. a mish-mash is a grøt too.
well make that, and have cream on top.
you're planning to stay around until i'm as old as you are now?
will be really nice if you do.
thanks for your congratulations.
my birthday was a happy one, happier than in years before.
Quote from: Taka on November 16, 2014, 03:37:03 PM
oh, rødgrøt. yeah, what would you call grøt in english... not really pudding, puddings can be cut with a knife.
porridge, gruel, very thick sauce, are things that look more like norwegian grøt. a mish-mash is a grøt too.
well make that, and have cream on top.
you're planning to stay around until i'm as old as you are now?
will be really nice if you do.
thanks for your congratulations.
my birthday was a happy one, happier than in years before.
I doubt If I'll stay here that long, but if you let me I will stay in your life and the lives of all the people I've come to love here. I can be grandma Julie to the world, and will travel to see my grandchildren as often and funds, and time allow. You are special, a teacher and a friend. I hope to get to Norway in a couple of years if for no other reason than to hold your hands and look into your eyes.
Peace,
Julie
if you do come to norway, i'll seriously dance from joy.
i'll also have to invite you home to eat all kinds of traditional norwegian foods.
and traditional saami foods, though they aren't very different apart from the reindeer meat.
An interesting old man knocks at the door.
Taka opens it.
Taka sees before him a person with laugh lines around his eyes, etched deep wrinkles in his forhead from too many careworn days thinking, studying, writing, figuring in a profession he did not plan, an escape he had to do, sacrificing the theater and fame for the sake of a young, innocent and beautiful Indian woman that he knew was eternally his to protect and cherish.
A cross cultural and inter racial marrage. One of a thousand controversies for the performing artist whos name and face must be stealth.
The man has a beard, thinning hair now growing back some, but there is something odd about him. The cheeks are too full, the face, too young....
He raises his hand, long clear coated fingernails suddenly clearly visible.
He is dressed in a way that is most attractive, black leather jacket, nice hat, eye glasses perched on his nose, a tight shirt, something about it... boobs.
And knee high boots.
He brings with him a dish to pass. Curried goat and lamb, delicacies from his loving wife, to share, curried egg and shrimp, and on the other cultural side, ham and barbequed steak and corn on the cob and baked potatoes, baked in an easy bake oven, in the attic.
The face, even with the laugh lines, is etched with the pain of decades of suffering, but the eyes remain both sad and loving and filled with a light that should have been snuffed out years ago, and instead has become a beacon, the artist within and the spirit within simply will not be overcome.
Who are you, asked Taka.
I am SJ.
May I please come in my dear? I am weary, and need rest, and I want to dance with my daughter Satinjoy, for we are one and the same.
I need my family, I cannot go on alone, I have traveled long to get here, this is my home, just as it is in the world of Cis, another place, another close family, also under distress, but living nonetheless.
May I eat at your table my dear, though I may not look as you thought?
SJ/Satinjoy
taka's face is split in a wide smile when he opens the door and sees who's finally come to visit.
a question is asked out of courtesy, giving the man opportunity to tell who he is even though the answer is already known.
"who are you?"
"I am SJ.
"May I please come in my dear? I am weary, and need rest, and I want to dance with my daughter Satinjoy, for we are one and the same."
come in my friend.
the table is set, the children have started to eat.
but there is always room for more guests.
our family is one, and you belong here.
eat and rest so you can regain your strength.
next thing you know, we'll all be playing childish games like the kids we really are.
A girl glanced at their reflection in the mirror, she wore a baby pink tank top, white tiered mini-skirt with white stockings. Her hands touched the fabric of their skirt, delighted at how light it felt. With a giggle, she twirled in front of the mirror before dashing down the stairs, she saw the man at the front door about to come in at Taka's acceptance, the girl's eyes lit up in joy.
"S-!" WHAUMP!!
The girl tripped on the last few steps of the stairs and fell flat on her face at Taka and SJ's feet. "I'm okay!" She jumped up, her face bright red from either embarrassment or from the fall, most likely the former. She scurried into the dining room to join the rest of the family, shouting eagerly for SJ and Taka to join them in the warm chatter over the table.
i'm sorry dears, but taka will be leaving for a while.
possibly forever.
my family will know how to contact me if anyone wants to.
Family members come and go oftentimes for extended periods but that never precludes the reality that they are always and forever family, connected by an unbreakable ethereal bond!
The old man sits at a table in a room suddenly dark.
He walks to the window and starts lighting candles, but he knows it may be too late.
Dinner is on the table, and it is growing cold. He is there, mother is there, we dont know who is left.
He thinks that the young one remains, and goes to the fire.
I would like to tell you a story, he said. It is a story of courage, of faith, of family, and of pain. A house abused yet standing, a people who never give up. A home undefended, yet still a home.
It is a story of people who deserved far better, of warriors, of tremendous tenacity. Of hands extended and sometimes bitten very hard, fingers lost, rejoined, lost again.
It is a story of a people nobody understands, who are unique in the world, who value family above all else, above abuse, above attack. Above a lack of food, where they are starved.
The old actor pauses.
They dont even know who I really am, he smiled to himself. They have no clue about that life, that beginning, the one alcohol put on hold. About the years of political theater, the training from the protestors who were behind the iron curtain, passing on their fire and art to the man now sitting by the fire. Its all still there, none is lost, its just wierd now in the dressing rooms. Stealth became essential, but even that would be sacrificed for truth. But not when the family is held hostage by fear and abuse from the cis. They have my children and my wife, you see, the world has taken them hostage using fear, using invalidation of my truth, and my truth is undeniable. It can be scorned but truth is truth. A womb conversion, try to disprove it.
So the old actor sits and stairs into the fire in a house that may be empty, growing cold. But they are a real performing artist, not just a movie person out to make a buck, they are the real thing, a broadway level artist, now buried in thought about the house, the world outside, and deeply worried about the silent watchers. He has no time you see, only minutes in a day. He usually makes the best of those, and then goes about sawing away at the ropes that bind his family.
The old man protects Satinjoy. She is missing. But sh'e still is here. Sh'e lives in the heart of the old man, and he lives in h'ers, there is no difference. They are a nonbinary transgendered person, complicated but simple, just a blend of many things, a door to the past that remained open and not shunned, a truth not run away from but accepted.
Bad vibes here..
Brick by brick, our house has been demolished.. For whatever reason, by fate, or forces beyond our knowledge, maybe partially by our own hands..?
They have won the battle, they hold the sword, and weild it at will..
We must conform, or be destroyed..
The forest grows quiet, its creatures appear to have scattered into the wind...
Yet we have not scattered into the wind...
We are together, we ARE the wind......
(I'm with Taka)...
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(I weep, goodbye my loves. Righteousness has killed us. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Sadly, at this time it is easier to withdraw rather than fight the same battle over and over.
Quote from: Taka on November 17, 2014, 08:54:55 AM
i'm sorry dears, but taka will be leaving for a while.
possibly forever.
my family will know how to contact me if anyone wants to.
Me too!
Take care, Taka.
The old man sits by the embers of the fire.
He quietly rises, a tear on his cheek.
He knows they are safe, his family and his protectors, though he is fully capable of protecting himself. It is like so many times in his life, this is the third time his family has been driven out of their home, it happed twice in the cisworld to him.
He spots a key next to the table. Taka's key.
Silently he puts it into his pocket, leaves the food on the table, and goes to the front door.
The house is empty. Others will need to make their own now.
He opens the door, and gently locks it, and carrying a diamond encrusted walking stick, he sets off into the setting sun.
Blessings my dear ones.
Julie came to the empty house and sobbed. She climbed through the kitchen window and found a note that the old one had scribbled on parchment gently reminding her that all things pass and that boarding a ship and sailing to the west was not death. That other lands were there and that ships and trains travel both ways. The old man's wisdom is profound and his love all encompassing. She dried her tears and and left a lipstick kiss on the letter for others to see. Then after sweeping the floors, making the bed and looking fondly at the familiar place. She began the long trek to the future and following in her friend and mentor's steps turned west, leaving the door unlocked.
:-*
I just want to bring you news of this glorious family. All are well and send love from the west. Everyone to grow needs to find their own path. I seem to live in both forests for now and hopefully we are all both growing in the security of their authentic identities, and comforted by the knowledge that all paths lead to Zion. (As SJ sometimes says)
Peace to everyone here,
Julie
Julie
The Forest thread refers to the secret paths. These paths provide a bridge between places. Distance and separation is therefore an illusion.
Membership of multiple communities is the human condition. Membership of one does not necessarily imply rejection of another (with the possible exception of sports, where tribalism and competition is a characteristic). I love sports, but I love people more. We each travel our own unique but challenging paths, how could we not be there to help folk who we meet on our journey?
Safe travels
Aisla
Everyone,
The people who have written here are my family. Some have moved to a new space and I delight to visit them. But we have a family too and I would like to be a part of yours. I am grandma Julie. I will make you chicken soup when you are sick and hold your hand when you are afraid. It is sappy as hell, but it is my calling I think. Taka gave me the honorific grandma and I adopt it because it suits me. Who are you in this family that spans the globe, transcends gender, obviates disparate languages? I would like to know you better.
Peace,
Julie