Hugs

The hugs we got from Shirley Cherry at the Dexter Parsonage Museum were not the first nor the last hugs of our trip. Almost everywhere we went, people were chatty and huggy. Maybe it was the time of year - December is not the busiest tourist season to be sure, so there's time to chat. Or maybe the post-chemo fuzz starting to fill in on my mom's head inclined them to an extra level of friendliness. Maybe people in Alabama just find strangers interesting, like people in Vietnam do. Whatever it was, we embraced the embraces we received from the locals and thoroughly enjoyed the long conversations and intimate farewells whenever they were offered.

The friendly welcome was evident on the road as well. The first gas station we stopped at was full serve with a smile... at no extra cost. And often while driving along rural roads, the pedestrians we passed would wave at us. "Maybe I'm driving too fast," I said to myself. "Is one of my lights out? Is there a dead animal stuck on my bumper?"

At one point, driving from Selma to Gee's Bend, I finally said it out loud. "You know, I think they're just saying hello."

My mom knew exactly what I was referring to. "People do seem to wave a lot, don't they?"

"I'm not driving too fast, right?"

"No," she said, "I think they're just being friendly."

"Maybe because we're strangers?"

"I was thinking that," she said, "but how would the know we're strangers if we're in the car? It's one thing at the museums where they know we're visiting, but here we're just driving by."

"True," I said. "I guess people in Alabama are just really friendly."

I started giving them a little wave back from the car. And when we arrived at the Gee's Bend Nutrition Center, home of the Gee's Bend Quilters' Collective, the little old lady whose lunch we interrupted gave us each a hug hello as if we were part of the family.