The Wright Family...Ben, Christina, Ben David, James and Caroline

This week I had to make a trip to Selma,NC for work. A trip I didn't want to make in sight of the 3 hr drive with only a possibility of a 3 day job. Driving back I took the back roads to take me through the small town of Star,NC. Not only does it mark the geographical center of NC but is also is the roots of were I am from. As I went though the small town it brings back memories untold of going to the woods with Papa in his old white pickup truck. A old ford with a rusted floor that we would drop rocks through singing 'there's a hole in my bucket' and the occasional game of cow poker to pass the time. I was sadden that i couldn't remember the names of all the people that lived in the houses that Papa would always reminisce about as we passed. A story would come as how he would take his shotgun to school and leave it at the door so they could go rabbit hunting after. I wish I could have captured all the names and stories and even kept up with the relatives that have stayed but i have forgotten so much. Part of me thinks that it doesn't really matter since I will never probable move to star or even contact my 2nd,3rd or 4th cousins that i may be related to - but its hard to not feel like your letting your history go. I drove down coggin rd that has changed as they have clear cut the woods on both side of the road and somehow wish that nothing would have changed. I made it past Jacks house were before we would have never passed without stopping and saying hi to Jack, and down past Lilas house to visit Papa once more. Its sad to say that I haven't been back since the day nearly four years ago, but I made my way down the dirt road to the Coggin Cemetary. Its was refreshing to see it kept up and maintained as before some of the walls where falling and the grass overgrown. A flag pole now stands in the middle put up by Max Coggin dedicated to Nana and Papa. It shows how many peoples lives they touched and changed. Not many people have changed and shaped my life like Nana and Papa have. Many afternoons were filled by going to to their house and working with Papa in his shop. He taught me that 'what one fool can do, another can' and we would begin by making a steam engine or a slingshot. He trusted you to be able to do things he new were tough. I don't now how he was so trusting to let us use a knife at such a young age, not to mention the table saw, lathe, or band saw that we would always break because we didn't know how to use it. He took the time to teach you how to do it and that with enough patience anything can be done . I feel i have carried this on with many aspects of life and somehow crave the challenge of doing something I don't know how to do. Though i may loose the stories or names of the people that once lived in Star what Papa has taught me no one can take away. As I walked in the walls and saw Papa's stone I thought it would bring tears, but somehow i was just overjoyed with the memories and knowing that he was home, new again without pain. The silence of the woods brought back the best memories of walking through them with him. And though the charlie field is now a pine forest and the woods are changed, the memories i have and what Papa has left will never change. I am blessed to have known him and to have him shape my life. Driving back i couldn't help but full fill one more tradition of stopping to get ice cream as we drove back each time - it was either chocolate, vanilla, or swirl in a cup. This time i got vanilla.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your strength,and lean not on you own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.