Conclusion:
The stream spat us out of its tight hold into a bright clearing. Everything around us was lush and saturated. The birds chirped above us, the grass sang its summer song. I felt the Earth take a deep breath. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth fall over me.
“You’re a lovely soul,” my grandmother said. We were sharing a raspberry pie together, our favorite. “You’re going to be something wonderful, don’t forget it.” My grandmother was a woman of affirmations. She was in her best mood when she was eating. I smiled, got up and hugged her. She patted my arms with her beautiful old hands and took another bite of pie. Afternoon light beamed in through the kitchen window and weaved onto the grains of the table. The front door opened and my mother spilled in. She was wearing her best sundress and a new tan.
“I heard there was pie somewhere around here?” she said as she approached us with a fork in hand. Her red tangles fell gracefully against her face. She squeezed my grandmother before sitting down and joining us. Our laughter muffled out the sound of the 5 o’clock news.
I opened my eyes. I imagined that my grandmother was somewhere just as beautiful as I was now. I felt her energy move through the clear, untouched water below us. I saw her wrinkles in the bark of the trees. Her eyes were in the blue of the sky. My mother looked over her shoulder at me, a smile filled her face. She looked just like her mother.
“Isn’t this amazing?” she asked. Everything sat in stillness for a moment. Her face was frozen in front of me mid sentence. I could see the creases in her eyes and her freckles twinkle and dance in the daylight.
“It really is,” I responded. I felt her love embrace me from the other side of the canoe.