A FAMILY LOADS up their navy blue Jeep in Tennessee and takes a cross-country road trip. It’ll take several days to get to the Sequoia National Park in California. There may be hours when the Jeep feels smaller and smaller by the second. Taking turns picking the music leads to debates on how many songs Brother or Sister picked. The cooler in the floorboard has only a few snacks left. The time on their cellphones changes from Central time zone to Mountain, and then Pacific. After far too many tolls and gas-station stops, the GPS finally uses words that make the “crowd” go wild: “… two miles until your destination.”
Grandma, Mom, Dad, Brother, and Sister hop out of the Jeep and stretch their legs. They look up at the leaves above. It’s breathtakingly unbelievable. The size and strength of nature demand an undeniable respect. The General Sherman Tree stands almost 280 feet tall on the north end of the Giant Forest. It’s believed to be 2,300 to 2,700 years old. It’s hard to imagine how far the roots reach. The strength of the branches holds bird nests and gives homes to tiny insects just passing through. Each season brings new life of connection from the soil to the crisp air, 280 feet above. The chirping bird family belongs together — until, of course, it’s time to jump into flight. The ants crawl up and down the bark with a natural interconnectedness that can only be described with one word: family.
Sister misses a step on the way up, and Dad grabs her hand with firm support. “I’ve got ya,” he says. Grandma smiles, not letting anyone know she holds back tears. She knows where her son got that phrase. She had heard it for 50 years before a funeral. Her son says it the same way his father used to. While Sister never got to meet him, his blood still flows through her veins with honor.
Our families weave us together with a generational strength that no wildfire or gust of wind can knock loose. Our memories of those who came before us fly beneath our wings when we jump from the nest. And when the icy cold bites at our fingers in winter, we have an enclave to snuggle into. Families are not just names on a birth certificate or put together with wedding bands. They’re a generational structure that will always stand the test of 2,700 years. This issue of Good News honors just that: our families. GN
