So, here I am in anticipation after my long journey
Waiting on the hanging canopy swing in the shade of two giant elder pine trees
With my son on the side of my sister’s house in Northern Idaho
It’s a peaceful summer mid-afternoon with a few fluffy clouds in a high blue sky
As my son and I take turns napping on the swing waiting for someone to arrive home

The first one in is my sixteen-year-old nephew who comes along the lane
Scuffling to his own rhythm, he goes inside the house without noticing us
After a few minutes, I make the first move and do the next right thing

I go inside to say “Hi” and connect and then the rest of my family arrives in shifts
Brothers with their families, sister home from work
My parents, the elders, carrying their hopes and prayers along with their handbags
Yes, there is hope here among the expectations and fears of the Unknown
Unfulfilled promises from the past, jaded frustrations with old disappointments

Three generations of hoping for a better world and each member of this tribe
Has a different vision of that better world which is shared in pieces with each other
Held out tenderly to one another and splashed out in loud colors
Among the branches of that old family tree

In the sharing of these visions of a better world, around the reunion table
Around a circle on the beach, around the breakfast table
Around the campfire by the dock late at night, each one of us is returning
To the one true family of all in our hearts and we are all prodigal children
Coming out of our own wilderness to join and gather
As the special and sacred people that we are

On the last morning, as my son and I are making our goodbye family rounds
I feel a sadness of leaving too soon and a joy of keeping something for myself
There is a final moment of them standing in a group
Watching my son and I walk out the front door into the blessed morning light

They wish us well on our journey and bid farewell to the returned ones
The blessings and the joy flow like water
When the prodigal son returns for a reunion, and he leaves, wanting more
After giving away and receiving something that he had never dreamed of