Family Reunion

I didn't grow up in Estill, SC.  My parents did.  Kind of.  Dad actually grew up in Lena, on the "outskirts" of Estill.  This town is still part of me.  As a child, my family would load up in the large van - pre mini-vans, the big, FULLY CARPETED vans of the 80's.  I would get the back seat with a horrific Stephen King novel.  Ginny and Will in the bucket seats.  Dad driving, listening to bluegrass, or Mozart, or bagpipes with earphones.  Mom reading a book with her toes on the dash - toenails painted.

It took a LONG time to get to Estill.  You have to travel the world first.  As you travel South, you actually have to drive through North.  Then Denmark and Sweden.  Then Varnville.  And Gifford.  And some other speed traps.  Then you know you are getting close when you see the water tank towering in the distance.  It says "Estill" on it.  This is how you know you are there.  At that point Peggy yells "I see the holla tank!"  Because this reminds her of her childhood somehow.

All the water tank reminds you of is your 7th grade science project.  No, not the one where you determine Which Lipstick Lasts the Longest (Ultima II was the best).  No, not the one where you try to determine if Horoscopes Are Real (shit I still don't know).  The Science Project where your Dad thinks you can determine the heighth of the water tank based on shadows, sunshine, and strings to measure.  Whatever.

When you are finally there, you pull alongside Noni's driveway.  Everyone climbs out of the van.  Open the screen door to her house - it creaks.  Where is she?  She's not there!  You trample over pink carpet, through a 1950s kitchen, past the swinging door with a hole in it (left there by Uncle Bubba, who got mad once as a teenager), and on the backporch.  She's sitting back there with Missy.  Her dog.  And the gnats.  And a cigarette.  Mentally preparing.

And she is really sort of freaking out that we are all there.  Because the Baker-Lawton kids were pretty much city folk.  "What are we going to do next?"  "Can we rent a movie?"  "Can we go shopping somewhere?"  "What's for supper?"

There was never much supper.  Because she worked so hard teaching.  But, if we were lucky, after supper, we would get to see our cousins - who grew up there.  Our cousins who spoke a little slower, were more attentive, weren't afraid of all the big dogs that seemed to wander the town.  Our cousins who rode their bikes super far, and drove vehicles without the technicality of a driver's license.  Our cousins who loved deliberately, and carefully, and honestly.  Our family who took time to listen, and responded only when every thought was expressed, and weren't desperate to see the next movie, tv show, or get in the car and escape one another. 

Returning to a place like Estill is receiving a hug.  Even if it hurts a little.  Because someone is living in Noni's house.  And they painted the door red.  And she would hate that, because red is a color for shoes, when you are wearing a black dress. 

And Dad was so worried when she died (the last of my parents' parents)- that he would have no reason to return home ever again.  And his face turned down in a sad frown that day- an expression I have seen a few times since, and only on my children's faces. 

But we are coming home Noni.  And we will swat gnats.  We will meet other Lawtons living, and stomp around near the sites of dead Lawtons. 

I will swat gnats.  And I will complain about the heat.  But I will wander about with my Daddy.  A little Estill boy come home.  I will listen patiently, and not speak until he is done speaking.  I won't think about work, or movies, or tv, or what's for dinner.  Promise.

But if those dogs are still roaming around like they used to, I will probably run for my car.