Where Roots Run Deep
Natchez. The peace of this place nurtures my soul.
Last month, Carley surprised me with a trip to my hometown where we stayed in a cottage on the grounds of Homewood Plantation. The home burned down in 1940 but the steps remain. Leading nowhere in particular, they are evidence of what once stood. If only the moss-draped oaks could talk.
My daughter knows that I am facing my upcoming empty nest with a lot of mixed emotions. It took almost a full day for the anxious feelings to be swept away. But it did happen. And then, I opened my eyes to the tranquility of the town that nourished me from birth to the age of 18.
On the grounds, we found two swings hanging from a massive oak tree. Pumping my legs to go higher brought me straight back the carefree days of my youth. Except, the little girl is a grown woman now. Looking off into the distance at the steps, I can’t help but relate. I think that I feel a little bit like them – sturdy with a purpose but kind of crumbling and longing for what once was before they stood alone. Later, as the sun says goodbye for the day, we sit on the steps and toast to life – the beauty, the pain, the possibilities…all of it.
On our last day, we visited a local corner grocery to pick up dinner. I didn’t even notice the older women at a nearby table playing cards until one of them called out to me – “Excuse me…(I turned, my face sweaty from our recent run through town. Me?) yes, you. Are you a Coleman?” “Why, yes, YES I am.” “I knew it”, she said as she turned to the other ladies with a smile. “I saw your Coleman genes as soon as you walked through that door.”
I had never met this woman before and learned that she was a 70-something friend of my Aunt Ann who passed away a number of years ago. She could see my aunts, my mother and my grandparents in my 47-year-old face and she didn’t know me at all.
No doubt about it, my Coleman family visited me that day. I remember their laughter, their strength – and most of all, their love. Here in Natchez, my roots run as deep as the mighty Mississippi river. And all is well with my soul.
