30513 Memories: More Than Just A Place

Every few weeks over the course of the past year, I have written in this space about my hometown. It is a small mountain town in North Georgia named Blue Ridge. 30513 is the zip code. I no longer live there but as I have said a number of times, it will always be home in some way. In these articles I have kicked around old memories that rest easy in my mind. Of course, comparing the days I remember there with what exists there now finds those two things don’t match up exactly with one another when looking at them with as honest and open mind as possible. No, things there ain’t what they once were. Yes, things there seem very different now than when I recall. Are they really different though?

Sure, the four-lane highway that came through there twenty-five or so years back opened things up to make it easier for those in Atlanta to find a weekend getaway. Some of them liked it so well, they stayed. Technology boomed making it possible for that little mountain town to advertise it’s good points to a global audience. That meant more people flocking there. Now, nearly every weekday, and for certain on every weekend, the traffic there can rival what you will find in busy sections of major cities throughout the South. I drive through the town when I am back noting the proliferation of national fast food chains and stores. I see how the economy there has changed from farming and manufacturing to tourism and more tourism.

On the back roads there though, things feel much more like they did when I recall them in the day. I can still stop at an aunt and uncle’s house, walk in their door to find myself wrapped not only in their hugs but by the ever-present smell of coffee, a constant reminder to me of their house. We can laugh while recalling stories from our shared past, and, maybe share a story or two never heard before.

I can go to other family member’s houses where I am greeted by a barking dog that isn’t sure whether she is happy or angry to see me. I look around at the surroundings there, live and in living color, to find it matches exactly what I recall it in my mind except I can still see my grandparents there. I can still hear the guineas call each other from down the hill. I can still see that red mountain clay on the banks marveling how God matched that color with the color of blood in my veins.

I can stop by a couple of different cemeteries to pay my respects to family members. There, a stone marks their final resting place stating ‘gone but never forgotten’. After I leave there, I realize those four words are also etched in stone in my heart like a promise I just can't let go. ‘Gone, but never forgotten.’

It really isn’t about the places. It is about the people. Even though I no longer live there, I have family who do live there. I hope I always have family who live there. It keeps me connected to that place where so much of who I am began to come in focus. Beyond that it is where so much of who were are as family really resides, no, not just physically but way beyond that, no matter where any of us live. It is that place but more importantly those people, the good and the bad, who influence all of the rest of us, the good and the bad, in some way every day whether we admit it or not. That is why that place, represented by that 30513 zip code, will always own a piece of my heart.

30513 Memories: More Than Just A Place playlist:

Loretta Lynn "High On A Mountain Top"

Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band "The Mountain"

Jamey Johnson "In Color"

Alan Jackson "Blue Ridge Mountain Song"

Ray Charles "Georgia On My Mind"

Zac Brown Band "Homegrown"

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings "One More Dollar"

Steep Canyon Rangers "Call the Captain"

Avicii "Hey Brother"

Sister Sledge "We Are Family"

John McCutcheon "Water From Another Time"

The Beatles "Two of Us"

Blind Melon "Vernie"

Marty Stuart "High On A Mountain Top"

The Band "The Rumor"

Dolly Parton "Coat of Many Colors"

Dan Croll "Home"

Seldom Scene "Wait A Minute"

Bruce Springsteen "My Hometown"

Dean Brody "People Know You By Your First Name"

John Anderson "Black Sheep"

Kacey Musgraves "Family is Family"

The Carol Burnett Show "Aunt Mae Is Dead"

John Fogerty "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues"

"Tell Me The Whole Story"

It was just another moment in another day. The three of us, Jennifer, Hannah and myself, were together in our car traveling to somewhere. I don’t recall what brought up the story that was shared. When it came up I had a recollection of hearing the story before, at times in detail and other times in bits and pieces. The exact details of the story aren’t necessary to know. It was just one of those stories about a family member that has been shared through the years that only makes sense to other family members who know the personalities involved.

Although I won’t go into specifics about the story, here are a few of those details to whet your curiosity. The family member mentioned in the story is now deceased. At the time of the incident this family member had false teeth. The takeaway to the incident was this family member’s false teeth somehow came out of their mouth while they splashed around in the ocean. The false teeth floated off into the watery horizon never to return to this family member’s mouth.

As we drove, Jennifer mentioned a few details of the story. As she did, I vaguely remembered a few other parts of the story. Hannah seemed to remember other details as well. We laughed a bit at what we remembered. Then, Hannah said, “Tell me the whole story.”

With that plea, Jennifer then began adding more details. As she did more of the story came back to me. We laughed some more at what happened. We weren’t laughing at this family member but laughing together at this story that is a larger part of our family’s story, something we share and appreciate with just our own small circle.

When the story ended, silence filled the car. I thought about how this story, a story from my wife’s family, has become part of my story, and now part of our daughter’s story. I recall this family member. Part of my laughter at the story was because I knew this family member well enough to imagine the reactions of other involved family members even though I wasn’t present for the incident. Hannah wasn’t there either. She also remembers this family member, even though she was young when this family member passed from this life. Maybe she wanted to remember more about what she had already heard. Maybe she wanted to somehow learn more about this person we all miss and still love.

I thought about how we have so many avenues of communication available to us presently. Phones and computers make it easy to communicate quickly and frequently with people we love, and even, people we do not know. Still, when it comes right down to it, nothing beats the face-to-face, heart-to-heart, in-person conversation with the ones we love. Nothing compares to looking into their eyes, seeing them smile and connecting in a quiet, unknown and mysterious way.

Now, maybe, some day in the future, Hannah will tell what she remembers about this family member to someone she cares about. She may even talk about a trip to the ocean and false teeth washing away in the foam. When she does maybe her heart with fill with laughter and love, as she shares this story with someone who means something to her. After all, it’s now part of her story.