“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

– Terry Pratchett, from A Hat Full of Sky

This quote was in my inbox the other day. It resonated with me because I had just returned from a week in Iowa – the place of my birth and early childhood; the place I returned to for a month every summer and every other Christmas as I was growing up.

I traveled to Iowa to attend a funeral and I stayed a week with my Dad(Jerry) to help as best I could during a difficult time. It was one of those rare times when I felt that each day brought what was supposed to happen. Each day I felt that I was where I was supposed to be; that I met or became reacquainted with the people I needed to see and talk to – some of whom I never expected to encounter on this trip. Some questions answered. Some bits of my past put in perspective. Some memories seen through new eyes. Some  relationships put to rest; some filled with potential.

I experienced a trip to the past, a trip to the present, and a glimmer of the future.

It was good to feel at peace in time and place and to sense the hand of God at work.