Iowa

Last week I was back in Iowa for a day or so. Somehow, no matter how long I live away, it will always be "home."

Granted my trip was to deliver a eulogy for a beloved uncle who, at 86, succumbed to cancer and re-joined his wife, daughter and son-in-law, as well as my parents and other family members in Heaven, but still, I was home.

There was a time when weddings brought us together. Festive but hectic times that seemed to pass too quickly, and involve too much hub-bub. Now, funerals are the gathering call, and they're coming too quickly. Still, the pace at times like these allow us to talk; to be together and to celebrate the lives that many of us left in a hurry, but that some of us miss more each day. Yeah, I was home.

It's been dang near 30 years, but most of what I saw was as it should be -- a lot like it was 30 years ago. The only big change was that the highway through town has been replaced by a highway around town. But all the locally-operated stores had started to disappear when the big box stores came in, anyway.

My Little League coach, who runs the funeral home, is still the same great guy he was when I was ten-years-old. My basketball coach sounds the same. The farm looks the same; taller trees, worn buildings, but it's all there, right where it should be. My sister and brother-in-law were there, and all my cousins. Through the tears of loss, there was the comfort of being together. Of being home.

It's funny how I didn't worry about a bank failing, or about a revenue forecast, or about expense measures while I was there. I worried about the great-grandchildren, who didn't understand why "Papa" had died, but I also relished in their ability to bounce back, and the wide-eyed wonder that kids that age exhibit at some things we think are routine. It's funny how I didn't keep reaching for the BlackBerry, and how we sat up Friday night until 2 AM talking about family stuff, not once thinking, "Man! I gotta get to bed so I can be at the office by 6:00!"

There are places on this earth that order is the rule, and where comfort is the standard condition. There are places on this earth where the people are as good and honest and trustworthy as the day is long. There are places on this earth that just feel "right."

Iowa is one of them.

It was good to be home.