REENIE'S REACH

Memorial Weekend was packed with busy - fun stuff with wonderful friends popping in to visit. Two of my visitors are staff members at Mountain T.O.P. which is a Christian camp that serves the Cumberland Plateau - especially Grundy County where it's located. Grundy is beautiful with rugged fields and coves and hollows, but struggles mightily with poverty. I'm reminded of The Other America, a book by Michael Harrington. It was published in 1962 and had a profound influence on me. Harrington's book became a favorite of JFK's with its depiction of America's invisible poverty hidden midst beautiful landscapes.

Grundy County was recently listed as the poorest county in Tennessee. And that's one of the many reasons I'm such a fan of Mountain T.O.P because it serves area families and youth with an incredible outreach of services - major home repairs and amazing day camps for the youth. I'm signed up for a week to volunteer with teenagers at risk. Stuff like this is so precious and dear to my heart, but I'm rethinking the prudence of this venture for me at this time. I have so much going on this summer. I've booked 2+ weeks of travel to Portland to visit my daughter and her adorable family and will be returning east via KCMO to spend extended time with my son and his adorable family. Family is my joyful priority at this juncture. It's hard to make these kinds of decisions.

Anyway, Betsy and Olivia popped in for a visit. They put in 28 hour days at Mountain T.O.P. so I truly appreciated the time they took to visit. Thanks! I think this photo of them is beyond perfect, but then they are. xoxo

Betsy & Olivia

Me at Mountain T.O.P. two summers ago

REENIE'S REACH by irene bean
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