Last Sunday afternoon we headed north and hiked the Fifth Falls Trails at Gooseberry State Park again. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were walking a trail that we have come to love. You notice small changes when you walk the same path often. The bunchberries were in full bloom. They added so much beauty in their bunches nestled in among the rocks and roots.
Bunchberries grow in groups as their name implies. They are deeply connected to one another by their rhizomes. A rhizome is their thick underground, horizontal stem. The rhizome stores food and also pushes up new stems, leaves and buds. The tiny white flowers that caught our attention were connected, part of the same bunch.
We too are connected to our bunch. This Saturday, we will have an outdoor picnic to celebrate the life of my sister’s husband, Jack. He died last November, but with the pandemic we couldn’t all gather as we hoped until now. The picnic will be a time to remember him, for he is still so deeply a part of our family.
The picnic will be the perfect way to remember him because Jack was known for his meals, especially his Mulligan Stew. He would make the stew in large quantities for the hunters during deer season and then it was also eaten throughout the holidays. Jack hand wrote several copies of the stew recipe to make sure his boys had it. Jack was also known for his ring bologna, apple crisp, chili, and hamburger / tuna helper (with extra noodles to make it stretch). He was just like a rhizome storing up food for those he loved.
Jack cherished time with his two young grandsons, his little buds. He got his pontoon boat shipped to Prior Lake just so he could take Connor and Thomas out for rides. As his son Travis wrote, “We spent many Saturdays on the pontoon last Summer with the boys eating donuts and making a mess of the boat while Dad drove with the boys taking turns sitting on his lap to steer, push buttons, and honk the horn as we drove around waving to everyone wondering why we were constantly honking.”
When I asked my sister last November what scripture she would like, for the small funeral we were able to have she, immediately said Song of Solomon:
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death”
And it is true, love is stronger than death. Jack is still deeply connected to his family. All his love is stored up to help them carry on and even grow. He will always be part of our bunch and this is the real beauty for our journey.
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