Tam's Think Tank

grandma and grandpa, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

I’m not sure which of my cousins my grandma is holding in this picture, but I love it. Just the whole scene. Grandma with the baby, grandpa reading the paper. I’m not sure who took it, though I suspect it was my uncle Tom.

Today is my grandmother’s birthday, so… Happy birthday grandma. We love you, we miss you, and we think of you… all the time.

In a sort of related twist of events, I received a very special letter today. It had international postage on it and no return address. I love getting air mail letters. I love getting letters of any kind actually, and I rarely get them, except for the little missives my grandpa and I exchange (Speaking of which, grandpa, I owe you a letter). So it came as a surprise to me that I would get a letter at all, let alone a letter from far away. I opened it, totally lost in the mystery of it all, and was greatly surprised, and totally psyched, to find that it was from Legson. Yes, Legson… as in Legson Kayira, as in “I Will Try”, as in the man who, as a boy, walked across Africa so he could get to the states to get an education. The man who, as a young man, finally ended up living with my grandparents, my mother, and her siblings in Washington State while he attended college there. So I opened the letter and couldn’t quite believe it. Here was a letter, in my hands, that had traveled from London from the hands of a man I’ve heard so much about. A man who’s history had intertwined with our family history. Just spectacular.

Seems someone in Iowa read my blog entry about Legson, and that person was related to a person who helped Legson on an earlier part of his journey… before he came to the states. The relative of that early supporter read my blog and sent my post to Legson, who then guessed I must be my mother’s daughter and contacted my grandfather for my name and address. This letter I received today itself went on it’s own much smaller, yet still amazing, journey to get to me. Quite a circle life is…. it’s awe inspiring.

So today, on my grandmother’s birthday, I’m the one who received a gift. A gift only made possible by my grandma and grandpa’s presence in this incredible man’s life. I’m shaking my head in wonder right now… wow.