REUNION

Deep in the woods they began to gather, generations of souls who brought memories of generations of souls.

The five sisters were gentle in spirit and similar in looks, having inherited the Cherokee features of their mother. Each one had softly chiseled noses, cheeks and mouths now wrinkled with time.

They were quiet, seldom raising their voices above much more than a whisper and smiled often at a joke or a memory of loved ones long gone. They sat in a shelter house in the woods and spoke of their childhood so long ago past and the lives they led in that distant time.

Someone would say, "Do you remember the time...?" And they would laugh and sometimes cry at the memory. They remembered the war and the depression and good times and bad times, life without a lot of material things, and a childhood without baby dolls or toys. Loved ones who were killed in the coal mines or lost in battle and babies born at home. Who had survived the most dangerous illnesses of the time, those who didn’t, and where each of the lost were buried.

Many of the sisters had lived almost a century and had experienced all that life had to offer. Their gnarled hands were hands of love and affection that had seen the pain of childbirth, washing clothes on washboards, spanking errant children, loving men and tending gardens. They were once strong hands that were driven by strong backs that bent to each task as they worked to keep their homes clean in the back woods of the coal mines.

But their biggest strength could be seen in their hearts. These women had endured fires and floods, illnesses and death, life and love and had lived with everlasting hope in their hearts. Sorrow was replaced by joy because they knew where their true Strength came from.

By now they have been instrumental in raising hundreds of children, grandchildren,great-grandchildren and even some great-great-grandchildren. They have instilled in them the importance of hard work, love, discipline, and the need for the Lord.

As they sat in the cool mountain air, strains of "Sweet By and By" could be heard coming from a young man playing the guitar as his brother sang the chorus. And the sisters talked on and on. They hadn’t seen each other for a long time and there was so much to say. They spoke in the language of their lives and were transferred back to a harder, but simpler time.

They have endured the hardships of war and depression but have never gone hungry. They have experienced the miracles of God and the pain of loss and through it all they have held on to their faith.

I am proud to be counted their "kin." I hope I can endure through the trials of life I have to face and remain as strong in body and conviction as they are.

In the end when they were saying goodbye, it was perhaps for the last time. "I’ll fly away, oh glory, I’ll fly away..." But they will see each other again, "for when the roll is called up yonder, they’ll be there."