Verklempt

Verklempt

My very limited Yiddish vocabulary I learned from my disciple and “darling Friend” Jett Segal. She’s a Messianic Jew, classy, smart and savvy. We roomed together back in the 80’s before Mr. Ten Days came roaring onto the scene of my life. It was through Jett that I learned this wonderful word, “verklempt”, meaning “moved by emotion”.

The Jewish people are infamous for their deep well of emotion…think “Fiddler on the Roof”. But I have to say that many other people groups are also known for the same kind of intensity. For instance if you are lucky enough to have Egyptian friends like I do, then you have witnessed some sweet, passionate emotional displays.

 Now if you know me at all you know that I bleed Red White and Blue. As a young girl one of my life’s ambitions (not that there were many beyond going to college and getting my MRS.) was to never leave the South. I was not the least bit interested in “foreigners” as my Daddy called anyone who hailed from north of the Mason-Dixon line. Our anthem was that country song that says “If Heaven ain’t like Dixie, I don’t want to go”. Although I am half French (which explains a lot) and half German by bloodlines, I am still sort of a fourth or fifth generation of generic American. I think that somewhere along the line many of us “generic Americans” lost our individual culture. Maybe we adopted too much of our Mother country, Great Britain (sorry Heather) where they are stoic, reserved and very private. All my Downton Abbey peeps can attest to this.

But, to skip a huge part of my life story, which believe me you do not have time to hear, I ended up in the last place I had ever thought I would be, all the way from Dixie to serving as a Campus Minister in places like Hawaii and California.  Campus Ministry in (very) short means ministering to any one who will listen to you regarding the Gospel. This was the beauty of being a Campus Minister, where the nations literally come to your doorstep. So, without knowing it, through a radical act of obedience, basicly God  set out to introduce me to His children. What a “surprise party” is was for me. One of the best surprises was my new found ability to recognize and embrace moments of verklempt-ness.

Today I was verklempt. Although I usually get this way on grey days, it happened right in the middle of a gorgeous sunny perfect pre-Spring top-down day. I walked into Starbucks, laid my eyes on the lovely lemon iced pound cake in the case and there I was. Longing for my friend Kim White who adores the lovely lemon pound cake.

It all got me to thinking… About being “reserved”, and “cool” and God forbid sounding “needy”. I remember the old days …ok, I realize most of you don’t remember any of this but maybe you’ve seen it in “period” movies. Back when people put their strong feelings down on paper. You do remember paper, right? They put pen to paper, dropped a tear on it and put it in the mail. And then they waited. Waited for their dear one to receive it, then for the reply. Postmen were quite popular back then.  And, gone are the days of the of the thrill of the very expensive so, consequently very short, long  distance phone calls. They didn’t “shoot” them an email, or a text, or an instagram… I love that we can all stay connected like that, really I truly do.  But I believe, because we have each other at our finger tips we have lost the need for and the ability to say unapologetically --I. MISS. YOU.-- With the heart-felt fervor of yesteryear. It just seems to this old girl that we’ve all become mighty “cool”. I don’t like it. I like the unashamed passion of my ethnic friends who are taught by their culture that  its ok to really  lay their feelings out there. Ok, there are  ‘generic’ Americans that can do this too, I’m talking in general terms of the majority of people  here…  I want boisterous, emoting people. …Maybe I should move to Italy.

OR NOT, since Italy is somewhat northeast of the Mason-Dixon line.