Going Home

I’m not in any way related to Glenn Beck, but lately there’s been an odd amount of overlap. He announced a week or two ago that he is being put on a very strict diet, for his health, required and no choice about it. I looked at his list and said, “That’s my diet!” Except he gets coconut, and I get tomatoes. (I prefer tomatoes to coconut, so that’s OK.) This has to do with food allergies; the body sees foods that are safe and healthful for most people as if they were poisons. It’s not a shock for me anymore; my list of forbidden foods built up over a couple of decades. And every time I lose another food, I go through a bit of a mourning period. (Giving up Greek yogurt and hummus last year made me pretty sad. I tried denial for a while, but that didn’t work out well.)

So, anyway, I wish him well as he figures out how to focus on the good things we can still eat. It’s hitting him all at once, which seems to me crueler. But it’s fresh and healthful food, and I’ve found ways to really enjoy the flavors I get. Social eating and traveling are toughest, but at home all is well. And in reality we probably get more variety and better food than most of the people who have lived on this earth over the millennia.

Saturday afternoon Glenn Beck announced the passing of his dear father—about an hour after we learned of the passing of Mr. Spherical Model’s mother (my mother-in-law). So we are sharing yet another experience.

Mother, Grandmother, exemplary woman
1932-2014

So we’re traveling for a couple of days, getting the very large extended family together, as we do at these times. We knew this was coming and thought we were prepared, and yet it is still painful to miss someone you love. Still, when family and friends get together, there will be many happy memories about a life generously lived.

I am working on a piece about the 5th Circuit Court’s ruling on Texas’s HB2, last summer’s abortion legislation—at last some good news. I’m hoping to get that written later in the week.

In the meantime, for now, I thought I’d quote the words from the song “Going Home,” which a brother-in-law suggested for the funeral, and they seem so appropriate today:

Going HomeFisher)

Going home, going home
I'm jus' going home
Quiet like, some still day
I'm jus' going home

It's not far, yes close by
Through an open door
Work all done, care laid by
Going to fear no more

Mother's there 'specting me
Father's waiting, too
Lots of folk gathered there
All the friends I knew

All the friends I knew

I'm going home

Nothing lost, all's gain
No more fret nor pain
No more stumbling on the way
No more longing for the day
Going to roam no more

Morning star lights the way
Restless dream all done
Shadows gone, break of day
Real life yes begun

There's no break, aint no end
Jus' a livin' on
Wide awake with a smile
Going on and on

Going home, going home
I'm jus' going home
It's not far, yes close by
Through an open door
I'm jus' going home

Going home, going home

(Dvořák / Fisher)

Going home, going home
I'm jus' going home
Quiet like, some still day
I'm jus' going home

It's not far, yes close by
Through an open door
Work all done, care laid by
Going to fear no more

Mother's there 'specting me
Father's waiting, too
Lots of folk gathered there
All the friends I knew

All the friends I knew

I'm going home

Nothing lost, all's gain
No more fret nor pain
No more stumbling on the way
No more longing for the day
Going to roam no more

Morning star lights the way
Restless dream all done
Shadows gone, break of day
Real life yes begun

There's no break, aint no end
Jus' a livin' on
Wide awake with a smile
Going on and on

Going home, going home
I'm jus' going home
It's not far, yes close by
Through an open door
I'm jus' going home

Going home, going home*

________________________________________ 

*Lyrics found here.