Homecoming

Elnora Burke’s Bible and my journal.

Where is home? Is it a place? Is it a group of people? The older I get, the more difficult this question is to answer. Not because it doesn't exist but because the pieces are so scattered that it's impossible to collect them all neatly into one space or location. So many people, across too many states to name, have provided the soil and nutrients I needed for survival. And so this blog is my attempt to collect and invite all the people who have made me whole home. It's a place of gratitude and belonging that I want to share with you. 

I named it after my great-grandmother, Elnora Burke, who, by all accounts, was a small but formidable traveling preacher and healer, a medicine woman on a mission to heal the world. She's been whispering to me in my dreams, encouraging me to write. But she isn't the only one; friends and family have encouraged me to write for years. I am deeply grateful to Hilary Mitchell Duncan for whispering in my ear and to Dee Dee Smith, my cousin, for his constant love and encouragement. And to all those too numerous to name: this is a home for you.