The Road Not Taken
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
This past week Kay and I took an extended trip, partially in respect for the Labor Day Concert at the National Cathedral that didn’t happen and for a continued birthday present for her. All in all, I would say I had a great time; saw many wonderful sights and some of the country I had never been in before. We even discovered, quite by chance, Kermit the Frog’s birth place in Leland Mississippi, and saw the tomb and museum for Will Rogers in Oklahoma. Was a bystander at the Cherokee Pow Wow, watching the dancers take to the Sacred Ground as the Singers and drummers sat around the living, vocal drum sing the songs of the different tribes in attendance.
But one thing I learned is that you really can’t go back home; for one thing, your home might not be there. Places and people change. Most of the older folks die and others have moved on, just as you have. Just as I have taken the road ‘less traveled’ and thought I needed to burn my bridges, I know that going back to the place where the two road diverged, one finds two new and very different road. Maybe more than two roads, but one remembers. That first footprint on the other path might have been swept away with time, but the memory of that step bring back so many more. Memories long forgotten are awakened by just looking for them. Pieces of yourself that you know will always be you, always be a part of you. It’s who you are. Remember and gather in your memories.
A few year back on our trip through New England, we visited Robert Frost’s farm, where he tried his hand at farming. Where we looked out his window and saw trees that were not planted when he lived there. This poem by Robert Frost’s has always been one of my favorite. Without knowing the reasons why it pulled so many possibilities out of thin air, it has charted my life’s journey in some manor of speaking. My path of transition and what I found in my way was most certainly not what I expected. Finding a happier self, helping others when I can and showing others that I am just me. Finding that I can face adversity as I deal with my breast cancer. Happy, contented person with a purpose with my daughter and wife by my side; I have indeed made quite a difference by taking the less traveled road.
1 comment:
Some people never reflect on the road, much less what influences caused them to choose.
To arrive at a point and be content is well worth reporting.
Glad to hear the trip (around some of the country that is) you took was a good one too! :)
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