Mississippi Bliss

The Mighty Miss, Old Man River, the Big Muddy, all these and more are used to describe the wonderous body of water that flows from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. To me, the Mississippi River represents safety, home, and a place that always inspires my soul. My love of the Mighty Miss was fostered when I was a child and we’d journey from our home in Northern Illinois to my Grandma’s house in Popular Bluff, MO. When we’d cross the Mississippi from Illinois into St. Louis, I always knew we were more than half way there.

We always stopped in St. Louis when I was a child to stretch our legs, to visit the zoo, or just to walk along the river front. Sometimes when we had time on our hands, we’d drive down the Mississippi and enjoy the ever changing mood of the river. In some spots, the Mighty Miss is placid and calm and in other places it’s wild and wooly. One memorable trip we took a river cruise on the old Admiral and we enjoyed watching the riverside drift by as we floated along the river that inspired Mark Twain. My son was born within a few miles of the Mississippi and although we moved away when he was a few months old, we took him and his sister back for a few trips and it was wonderful to see my kids enjoying the same sights and sounds that I’d enjoyed growing up.

The river played into my courtship as well. My first date with my husband was a trip to the St. Louis zoo. I kidnapped him and we headed south from Jacksonville, Il. We stopped in Alton and spent some time peruising an old antique store. He bought me a beautiful book of Asian poems that I’d admired. Lunch was fine dining (okay, McDonald’s) on a riverboat. Even though it was just McDonald’s, there was still something Magickal about sitting on the softly swaying boat and eating our Quarter Pounders. Another date was spent in Hannibal walking along the river and taking a riverboat ride.

When my parents retired, they settled near the Mississippi and my dad could spend hours watching for Eagles along the Mississippi. He’d often take our kids to the Lock and Dam to watch the boats go through. Those were happy days as we’d picnic along the river and watch the boats roll down the Mississippi.

The mighty river has brought me comfort in times of sadness and sorrow. I was in Ripley, TN when my work life seemed to be falling apart. I sought the comfort of the river and found a small nature preserve where I could dip my toes in Ole Man River and feel my cares float away. There’s something peaceful about sitting by a river and watching the river drift along. It feels as if it takes your cares with it.

My father’s last trip along the Mississippi was when we took his cremains from my parent’s home in Northwestern Illinois to the graveyard in Alton where my father was buried next to his father. It was a beautiful spring day out as my mom, my daughter, my son and I headed south. My father had been born in Bethalto, IL, a small town a few miles from Alton, so his life was coming full circle. We dropped his cremains off at the cemetary and then drove along the river to enjoy the view and remember the man who’d been so important to the four of us.

A few months after we’d buried my father, my daughter, mom, and I went out to the shuttered Savanna Army Depot to enjoy the park that’s being developed along the Mississippi. As we stood more than a hundred feet above the Mississippi, I felt the river work its magick on me once again as I remembered all those wonderful trips driving along the Mississippi with my dad. I felt as if he was once again beside me advising me and sharing with me stories of life. I knew then that whenever I needed to feel close to my dad, all I had to do was sit along the Mississippi and remember.