by Mollie Martin on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 12:18pm
The weatherman said it was going to be a rainy gathering. We were going to have 1 nice day to get there and get settled but the forecast said rain off and on for the next 3 days after that. I really wasn't sure I wanted to go. I mean I love rainy gatherings as much as anyone, huddled under a tarp sopping wet and covered in mud, wading down muddy trails, wrangling muddy children who don't want to stay couped up in the tent for days on end. Sounds like fun right? But something was drawing me. I kept thinking, but you've never been to a Cumberland Gathering before; it is your home bio-region, you keep talking about how we need to gather closer to home.... now's the time. So despite my misgivings we packed up Shi's van and headed out to Salt Lick, Ky. It was a pretty but cool spring day, a Monday. We made one stop along the way at Abraham Lincoln's birthplace for the kids to earn Jr Ranger badges and stretch our legs. By the time we got to Welcome Home it was a couple of hours till dark. We unpacked the tee pee and bedding and what we knew we would need the first night and headed in, kiddos running blissfully ahead on the trail. We were all so excited to be in the woods again. The trail was about a mile and a half, making a sharp left turn about a mile and a quarter in down a steep slope that was already muddy from the rain they had had the week before. In one of the biggest mud puddles we encountered Asher lost his shoe, sucked right off his foot, swallowed by the earth not to be returned by the mud spirits until a week later.
We came to the first meadow and decided to make camp there for the night, planning to look around and move camp in the morning. But in the morning the rains came, making all the trails a muddy mess, and making it impossible to move camp for several days.
Sometime Tuesday afternoon I finally made it to the kitchen. The kitchen was up a sloppy slope and was sparsely populated by rainbows around a bliss fire that was more smoke than fire when we got there. There was one sister there that kept drawing my gaze back to her. She was young and beautiful, but obviously a road kid, dirty and more than a little jaded. There was something about her that reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. When you've been to as many gathering as I have you just assume when there is someone there that looks familiar but your not sure how, that you must have seen them at another gathering over the years, and that is what I did at the time. I continued to see her over a couple of days, each time with the same nagging feeling in my mind that there was something about her I was supposed to notice. Sometime around Wednesday I heard someone call her Persephone. It suddenly shook me. Such an unusual name, I instantly suspected where I knew her from, but no, wait, that was sooooo improbable. Still as we walked away I asked Shi," how old do you think that girl is?". Shi and I discussed my suspicion at length over the next day and a half but I had no idea how to figure out if I was right. I didn't want to interrogate her, freaking her out and making her not want to talk to me, but I did want to know.... was Persephone her real name?
Thursday evening came and we had dinner with the family at main circle. It was far from the best rainbow meal I have had but it was tasty and filling and the first real meal we had had at main circle for the whole gathering. After dinner the kids played, and the drummers drummed, and marshmallows and glow sticks were enjoyed by anyone who wanted them. Soon it was dark and the kiddos were beat. It was time for bed and the trails were still a muddy mess, so we recruited Persephone to help tote the kids back to camp so we could put them down for the night. It always takes a while to get 5 kids ready for bed but Persephone stayed and helped and told riddles back and forth with the kids while I got the little ones to sleep. I don't know how long we sat up talking but eventually Shi asked the question I had been dying to know the answer to for days...was Persephone her real name? Her answer could not have been more mind blowing. I think my jaw actually hit the floor I was so stunned. She said " Well , yes it was the name on my birth certificate, but they changed it in foster care. My birth name is Persephone Cosmos". You see my oldest daughter Willow's bio dad is named John Cosmos, and I knew that he had given a child up for adoption some 10 years before Willow was born who was named Persephone. This girl, who looked so familiar to me, was actually Willow's long lost half sister. I knew it, with every fiber of my being I knew it to be true. She looked so like Willow with her thick dark eyebrows and her olive skin, plus there was something about the smile, this was definitely her sister. I blurted it all out in one breath. " I know your Dad ! His name is John Cosmos, he lives in Paducah , Ky. You two are sisters ! " They flew into each others arms. The recognition was instantaneous for all involved, Persephone was skeptical to be sure, having lived 20 years knowing nothing about your family to suddenly have a stranger tell you that she knows who you are and that you have a sister must be overwhelming. But she took it all in stride. She asked me how I knew him and if I knew anything about her Mom. I said no that I had no information about her but I could put her in touch with John and he could tell her all he knew. Eventually the girls stopped hugging and settled down to ask some serious questions before going to bed to think things over for the night. I for one could not get to sleep, my mind racing over all that had happened.
The next morning Willow woke up with a mission to go find Persephone and get to know her. She had a million questions for her , I had only one. Do you want me to go out and call him and see if he can come here to see you both? The overwhelming response from both of them was Yes ! We were supposed to go home that day, Willow was supposed to preform with her school's drum ensemble the next day in Nashville, but we weren't going anywhere. This was too unbelievable, we needed to explore this further. Willow needed to get to know her sister, and with Persephone being on the road, I knew this may be our only chance for them to connect. So Asher and I hiked out to find cell service and make some phone calls.
We had to drive about 12 miles away from the gathering to find service, but eventually we did find a spot to stop and make our calls. First I called my husband Jonathan to tell him we weren't returning that day and let him know what had happened, I didn't reach him, so I left a message but I knew he would not be surprised we weren't coming home right away, even if the reason why was shocking. Next I called my Mom as she was expecting us home as well and I knew she would worry if we were late. I filled her in on the basics of what had transpired and promised to take pictures and call her soon. Then I called John. I told him " I know you won't believe this, but I just found Persephone. She is here in Ky. with me and Willow at a Rainbow Gathering." I told him we were way off the beaten path and I knew without a car it would be hard for him to get there but that I really thought he should do everything in his power to get there before we had to leave Sunday night or Monday morning. He took down directions and assured me that he would do his best to get there and if for some reason he could not for me to please give her every bit of info on how to reach him I had and tell them he wanted to see them both. I assured him I would pass the info on , but encouraged him to do his best to get there, whatever the cost.
I hung up and headed back to the woods not knowing if he would make it or not, but determined to give the girls time and space to get to know each other. I arrived back at the gathering to find them deep in conversation and more sure than ever that they really were sisters. I told them that I had done my best and given him all the information he needed to find us, now it was up to him. We all went about our day enjoying the sunshine and warm air for the first time in days and finally beginning to dry out and de-muddify from the rain. We went to dinner that night at main circle, and eventually it was bedtime. We all walked back to the tee pee and were getting the kids ready for bed. They were all exhausted and ready for sleep, especially Willow after her emotionally charged day. She had told me before we left the drum circle that she was so tired she was about to a a somersault into the fire. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice outside the tee pee saying " is that a pink tee pee tent?" I peeked out the door and saw that he had in fact made it, and found our tent in the dark. John was at the gathering to meet his daughters. I went out and greeted him and met the fiance Jessica that had made the trip with him, then ducked my head back inside the tent to tell Willow he was there. All exhaustion must have fallen from her body as she jumped up and out of the tent to greet him. After some hugs she popped back in to get her shoes then grabbed his hand and drug him down the muddy path to take him to Persephone. I still had to get the rest of the kids to bed but told them I would catch up soon, as they disappeared down the trail.
By the time I did catch up with them they were all deep in conversation around the fire and all doubts had been erased. He knew their birth dates, and told them that he celebrated them both every year. He knew Persephone's middle name, details about her no one could know, it all had to be true. They all stayed up till the wee hours of the morning talking and laughing around a small fire in the kitchen, each in turn staring at the others hardly believing who was in front of them. I can still barely believe it myself, but I know it to be true. Truly the stars must have aligned to make it all happen this way, but it all just goes to show that when you are open to the possibilities of the Universe, magic can and does still happen.
We came to the first meadow and decided to make camp there for the night, planning to look around and move camp in the morning. But in the morning the rains came, making all the trails a muddy mess, and making it impossible to move camp for several days.
Sometime Tuesday afternoon I finally made it to the kitchen. The kitchen was up a sloppy slope and was sparsely populated by rainbows around a bliss fire that was more smoke than fire when we got there. There was one sister there that kept drawing my gaze back to her. She was young and beautiful, but obviously a road kid, dirty and more than a little jaded. There was something about her that reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. When you've been to as many gathering as I have you just assume when there is someone there that looks familiar but your not sure how, that you must have seen them at another gathering over the years, and that is what I did at the time. I continued to see her over a couple of days, each time with the same nagging feeling in my mind that there was something about her I was supposed to notice. Sometime around Wednesday I heard someone call her Persephone. It suddenly shook me. Such an unusual name, I instantly suspected where I knew her from, but no, wait, that was sooooo improbable. Still as we walked away I asked Shi," how old do you think that girl is?". Shi and I discussed my suspicion at length over the next day and a half but I had no idea how to figure out if I was right. I didn't want to interrogate her, freaking her out and making her not want to talk to me, but I did want to know.... was Persephone her real name?
Thursday evening came and we had dinner with the family at main circle. It was far from the best rainbow meal I have had but it was tasty and filling and the first real meal we had had at main circle for the whole gathering. After dinner the kids played, and the drummers drummed, and marshmallows and glow sticks were enjoyed by anyone who wanted them. Soon it was dark and the kiddos were beat. It was time for bed and the trails were still a muddy mess, so we recruited Persephone to help tote the kids back to camp so we could put them down for the night. It always takes a while to get 5 kids ready for bed but Persephone stayed and helped and told riddles back and forth with the kids while I got the little ones to sleep. I don't know how long we sat up talking but eventually Shi asked the question I had been dying to know the answer to for days...was Persephone her real name? Her answer could not have been more mind blowing. I think my jaw actually hit the floor I was so stunned. She said " Well , yes it was the name on my birth certificate, but they changed it in foster care. My birth name is Persephone Cosmos". You see my oldest daughter Willow's bio dad is named John Cosmos, and I knew that he had given a child up for adoption some 10 years before Willow was born who was named Persephone. This girl, who looked so familiar to me, was actually Willow's long lost half sister. I knew it, with every fiber of my being I knew it to be true. She looked so like Willow with her thick dark eyebrows and her olive skin, plus there was something about the smile, this was definitely her sister. I blurted it all out in one breath. " I know your Dad ! His name is John Cosmos, he lives in Paducah , Ky. You two are sisters ! " They flew into each others arms. The recognition was instantaneous for all involved, Persephone was skeptical to be sure, having lived 20 years knowing nothing about your family to suddenly have a stranger tell you that she knows who you are and that you have a sister must be overwhelming. But she took it all in stride. She asked me how I knew him and if I knew anything about her Mom. I said no that I had no information about her but I could put her in touch with John and he could tell her all he knew. Eventually the girls stopped hugging and settled down to ask some serious questions before going to bed to think things over for the night. I for one could not get to sleep, my mind racing over all that had happened.
The next morning Willow woke up with a mission to go find Persephone and get to know her. She had a million questions for her , I had only one. Do you want me to go out and call him and see if he can come here to see you both? The overwhelming response from both of them was Yes ! We were supposed to go home that day, Willow was supposed to preform with her school's drum ensemble the next day in Nashville, but we weren't going anywhere. This was too unbelievable, we needed to explore this further. Willow needed to get to know her sister, and with Persephone being on the road, I knew this may be our only chance for them to connect. So Asher and I hiked out to find cell service and make some phone calls.
We had to drive about 12 miles away from the gathering to find service, but eventually we did find a spot to stop and make our calls. First I called my husband Jonathan to tell him we weren't returning that day and let him know what had happened, I didn't reach him, so I left a message but I knew he would not be surprised we weren't coming home right away, even if the reason why was shocking. Next I called my Mom as she was expecting us home as well and I knew she would worry if we were late. I filled her in on the basics of what had transpired and promised to take pictures and call her soon. Then I called John. I told him " I know you won't believe this, but I just found Persephone. She is here in Ky. with me and Willow at a Rainbow Gathering." I told him we were way off the beaten path and I knew without a car it would be hard for him to get there but that I really thought he should do everything in his power to get there before we had to leave Sunday night or Monday morning. He took down directions and assured me that he would do his best to get there and if for some reason he could not for me to please give her every bit of info on how to reach him I had and tell them he wanted to see them both. I assured him I would pass the info on , but encouraged him to do his best to get there, whatever the cost.
I hung up and headed back to the woods not knowing if he would make it or not, but determined to give the girls time and space to get to know each other. I arrived back at the gathering to find them deep in conversation and more sure than ever that they really were sisters. I told them that I had done my best and given him all the information he needed to find us, now it was up to him. We all went about our day enjoying the sunshine and warm air for the first time in days and finally beginning to dry out and de-muddify from the rain. We went to dinner that night at main circle, and eventually it was bedtime. We all walked back to the tee pee and were getting the kids ready for bed. They were all exhausted and ready for sleep, especially Willow after her emotionally charged day. She had told me before we left the drum circle that she was so tired she was about to a a somersault into the fire. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice outside the tee pee saying " is that a pink tee pee tent?" I peeked out the door and saw that he had in fact made it, and found our tent in the dark. John was at the gathering to meet his daughters. I went out and greeted him and met the fiance Jessica that had made the trip with him, then ducked my head back inside the tent to tell Willow he was there. All exhaustion must have fallen from her body as she jumped up and out of the tent to greet him. After some hugs she popped back in to get her shoes then grabbed his hand and drug him down the muddy path to take him to Persephone. I still had to get the rest of the kids to bed but told them I would catch up soon, as they disappeared down the trail.
By the time I did catch up with them they were all deep in conversation around the fire and all doubts had been erased. He knew their birth dates, and told them that he celebrated them both every year. He knew Persephone's middle name, details about her no one could know, it all had to be true. They all stayed up till the wee hours of the morning talking and laughing around a small fire in the kitchen, each in turn staring at the others hardly believing who was in front of them. I can still barely believe it myself, but I know it to be true. Truly the stars must have aligned to make it all happen this way, but it all just goes to show that when you are open to the possibilities of the Universe, magic can and does still happen.
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