Rooted, Part 1

The Year was 1965

Colossians 2:7: “. . . having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”

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My Mother’s Vision

I rode shotgun. My youngest brother was squeezed in the middle between my mother and me. My other three siblings were crowded in the middle seat of our 1962 white Falcon station wagon. Pink plastic seats and longhorn cattle emblazed the back rest. The cargo bin contained most of our worldly possessions. The car heaved and groaned, as it pulled a U-Haul filled with the remainder of our belongings. We waved goodbye to our life on the plains of northeastern Montana. My dad unexpectedly passed away three years earlier; leaving my mother, a young widow with five bedraggled children. Shortly after his death, Mom began an often-repeated mantra. Your father and I want you to attend college. That will never happen, if we continue living here. I watched her sit at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of black coffee with a cigarette in her left hand, while pouring over several state maps. Little did I know these maps would eventually change the trajectory of my life. Heading east and then south, we drove through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and eventually entered southeastern Colorado.

Upon entering Colorado, we meandered west towards the Rocky Mountains. Mountain was a new word and experience for us. Driving up the canyon of Wolf Creek Pass, looking over the edge of narrow ravine roads, no one spoke. Fear and uncertainty engulfed us. Our destination was Grand Junction, Colorado. Our trepidation heightened, when the smell of burning brakes began permeating the inside of our vehicle. Upon reaching our destination, we knew we couldn’t stay. This was like living in a foreign land. Once again studying the maps and seeking advice from the front desk of the motel, we loaded our car and followed the same route back east over the mountains. Our destination was a college town on the plains of northeastern Colorado, as far away from the mountains as possible. So began my new life in the big city.

Colorado Fall Sunset