My Storm Family
Last week I had a bit of an epiphany about Garrison Keillor and one reason I will always like him so much. I was listening to The Writer's Almanac on KUHF in the morning on the way in to work, and I realized that I always look forward to that. Even though I'm not a huge poetry fan, I find that just the sound of his voice makes me smile. It's one of the reasons I will always listen to A Prairie Home Companion if it is on, even if I just heard that same episode the day before. And on this day last week I realized why.
Years ago, when Elizabeth and I had first moved to Michigan. we were in the car together one cold winter day. We were driving home from going grocery shopping in the next town over, since there was no good grocery store in Midland at the time. I *think* we were married already, but maybe not, since we moved there in winter and we married in April. Regardless, we were listening to A Prairie Home Companion, and Keillor was telling the story of when he was a kid, and they were all told that if they were caught out during a blizzard there were houses that had signs up saying they would take kids in during the storm. He recounted how he daydreamed about these houses taking him in and feeding him hot chocolate by the fire, and how he imagined that they were his "Storm Family". Sadly, he never had a chance to do this, as all the storms seemed to be convenient weekend storms, and never caused him to be stuck out in the open walking to or from school.
I was in my early twenties, driving with the woman I loved, in a state far away from my biological family, and yet right then and there I felt lucky and loved. I felt like *this* was my family. I had somehow gotten lucky enough to find my soulmate, cheesy though that sounds. Someone who I planned to spend the rest of my life with, happily. She was my Storm Family, but I had been lucky enough to actually find her and get to live with her, and I didn't have to go home when the storm was over. Not that I don't also love the rest of my family; I do, and we have always gotten along wonderfully. But I still remember that moment, driving in the car, cold air around us, in a new place, feeling like I was OK because I had this woman next to me, and she had me, and we both had Garrison Keillor.
And now, every time I hear his mellow, reassuring voice, I think back to that day, and I realize that no matter the storm, I have my family, right here next to me, and it's going to be OK. And it makes me happy. Thank you Mr. Keillor. And thank you Mrs. Benedetto.
Sadly, it looks like the website for Prairie Home Companion doesn't go back far enough to get the episode I remember, so I can't post a link here. Instead, I will post links to two recent episodes of The Writer's Almanac that I found quite amusing.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/10/03
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/09/22
Years ago, when Elizabeth and I had first moved to Michigan. we were in the car together one cold winter day. We were driving home from going grocery shopping in the next town over, since there was no good grocery store in Midland at the time. I *think* we were married already, but maybe not, since we moved there in winter and we married in April. Regardless, we were listening to A Prairie Home Companion, and Keillor was telling the story of when he was a kid, and they were all told that if they were caught out during a blizzard there were houses that had signs up saying they would take kids in during the storm. He recounted how he daydreamed about these houses taking him in and feeding him hot chocolate by the fire, and how he imagined that they were his "Storm Family". Sadly, he never had a chance to do this, as all the storms seemed to be convenient weekend storms, and never caused him to be stuck out in the open walking to or from school.
I was in my early twenties, driving with the woman I loved, in a state far away from my biological family, and yet right then and there I felt lucky and loved. I felt like *this* was my family. I had somehow gotten lucky enough to find my soulmate, cheesy though that sounds. Someone who I planned to spend the rest of my life with, happily. She was my Storm Family, but I had been lucky enough to actually find her and get to live with her, and I didn't have to go home when the storm was over. Not that I don't also love the rest of my family; I do, and we have always gotten along wonderfully. But I still remember that moment, driving in the car, cold air around us, in a new place, feeling like I was OK because I had this woman next to me, and she had me, and we both had Garrison Keillor.
And now, every time I hear his mellow, reassuring voice, I think back to that day, and I realize that no matter the storm, I have my family, right here next to me, and it's going to be OK. And it makes me happy. Thank you Mr. Keillor. And thank you Mrs. Benedetto.
Sadly, it looks like the website for Prairie Home Companion doesn't go back far enough to get the episode I remember, so I can't post a link here. Instead, I will post links to two recent episodes of The Writer's Almanac that I found quite amusing.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/10/03
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/09/22