The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Bag

for my sister, Carol

Remember the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”? just a silly movie
Well what about the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Bag”? it has
Already traveled from Alaska after all, back to our country
And who knows where one of us may end up yet?
The traveling bag may tell a story, as it collects the thoughts
Of either one of us….or both….as it sits on a shelf at our place
Who knows what the traveling bag is thinking? “Boy she needs
A kick in the pants to get her going with that publishing!”
Or “She needs a solid voice to tell her it is ok to have her very own world!”

The Traveling Bag might be a catalyst to contain
All kinds of little wisdoms passed back and forth, oh at
Birthdays, the odd one, not them all, or at Christmas
When one almost expects to unpack the Christ child
Because right now He seems to be so near.
Or when one of us falls ill, or gets hurt, Heaven forbid
But none of us ever knows what is around the next bend.
Or it could be at a wedding, imagine even at this late date!
I think that I may have already earned a pattern of surprise
Good or bad, like jumping on the plane for Tennessee to meet a stranger
And you were there too, a part of the absurdity, a part of the experience
And making sure I had James Redfield along for company!

Maybe the Traveling Bag, will write its own story in the words
Written on cards, on letters, in our smiles or frowns, or just in our hearts
Maybe the Traveling Bag can be a kind of bridge, with ropes
That reach out and remind us of the continuity of family, the realness
That cannot ever hide, because there is a blood tie stronger than life itself!

And so the Traveling Bag sits for now with you, at this Christmas time
And hopefully there will be many, many more,
Because as the same blood courses in our veins, the same as the parents
Who moved on and left us behind for now, like them, our lives might
Be long and the journey fruitful, happy, sad, but most assuredly
The lesson we were meant to realize.

love from your little sister,

cailin raine