“Every person is defined by the communities she belongs to.”
– Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead
Throughout my life, I’ve visited my father’s family’s homeland of Manteno in Kankakee County, Illinois for family reunions. By now most of the family farms have been sold, but the land we always return to is St. Joseph Cemetery. During a recent trip, I noticed that no one seemed to pray. And there were certainly no moments of silence, as the grave markers served as cues for animated stories.
As my father and his cousins strolled from one marker to the next, they recounted tales of their departed siblings, aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents. They filled in each other’s memory gaps about “the time,” such as the time one uncle bought a farm at noon only to discover its crops and buildings wiped out by a tornado at 2 p.m. The family plot is a place where my father feels a great connection to many he has lost, as well as a sense of community with those who live to tell the tales.
In what unexpected place do you tap into a sense of community?
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