My entire life has seemed as if I
was missing an element that many of my close friends had in rich
abundance. For 34 years, I have
known very little of the extended family that I share the same blood with. As far back as I can remember, it has
always been a small family of 6 of us, and that number has dwindled to
four. Of those four, I am the
youngest by a few decades.
As a small child I can remember
infrequent visits to Kansas, the land of my kin. Unfortunately, those ended in
the winter of second grade. Since
that distant past, my family has mirrored that of the desert we live in. A vast array of wide open space that
seems light years away from known civilization. We were a small satellite that had drifted far beyond its
original orbit, and had all but lost the ability to transmit relative communication.
I never had the ability to entirely
understand how this bloodline isolation has affected me through out my personal
narrative. How could I have
without a frame of reference?
While I must admit that I always carried a curiosity in the back of my
mind, I had abandoned a quest to seek out where I come from. Who needs to know? I made the decision long ago, that I
would rather put forth my energy to blaze a new trail, rather than look for
what was once behind me.
Once again, the universal flow has
a way of bringing old questions back to the foreground. The vehicle that is RISE has once again
been an avenue for my journey of self discovery. This part of the story brings us to Norman, OK where I had
the pleasure of meeting two 2nd cousins for the first time. While I only shared space with Mikie
Kinkead Tresemer for the one evening, I stayed with Terri Kinkead Owens. The first evening Zak & I met
extended members of my bloodline & watched the OKC Thunder play the L.A.
Lakers in NBA playoff. The entire
experience was surreal. Coupled
with wine and tour through contemporary family history, I was passed through a
stage of traumatic internal realization.
For the first time in my life, I
knew I was not alone. Unveiled
before me was new history that was rich and brought forth such so much truth in
to who Browns really are. I am
constantly surprised by what blessings have been bestowed upon my path while of
the voyage of RISE. There was no
was to predict the chorus of love that I had encountered in Norman. One observation that grabbed my
attention from the beginning was the obvious resemblance I saw of myself in
both Mikie & Terri. There are
no words to express my infinite gratitude to see my eyes looking back at
me. I felt like I had come home.
Leaving Norman, I completely
underestimated how the departure would make me feel. It was certainly a mixed bag of emotions. I wanted more time with my newfound
family, but was overwhelmed with the utmost feeling of gratitude for the opportunity
to be in their company. We still
keep in touch, and I am already making plans to see them on my return journey.
I
will see you again…
…but
not yet.
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