Packing Up

-
My sister, Queen of Legos, Cha-Cha, rocket scientist, universally accepted favorite went home today. She is probably in flight about now, watching the patchwork stream by below her, or maybe sleeping, possibly reading a book, or most likely is engaged in some kind of industrious activity. Joshua cried when she left even though she will be at our house for Christmas in three long short weeks. I put on a brave face.

This visit marked a true Thanksgiving for our family. In addition to mounds of food (which I did not help cook), we all grinned at a pie that had "Bud + Dot" (my Grandparents nicknames) poked into it's crust. Aunt Nancy, Uncle George and Aunt Mary Jane spent the day with us, played spoons and consequences, and generally reminded me how lucky I am with every blink of their eyes. There was also a moment where my Aunt Nancy looked exactly-to-a-t like my Grandmother and I almost called my Aunt Mary Jane by my sister's name.

Sprinkled into our visit were a few bittersweets. Like when I looked through my Grandmother's jewelry with my sister, deciding how to split it up. And when I saw a picture of my Grandpa that my Grandma painted. Or when I looked through my Grandfather's medals and belt buckles, his watches and hearing aid. And then when my hands touched Grandma's fine china, Grandpa's giant TV, Aunt Elda's china cabinet. Sweet but oh-so bitter.

Tomorrow we board a plane to fly home. Home to a daddy and Poppa and an uncle, home to a puppy and Christmas tree, home to my own bed and my own things, home to school days and everyday life. Home away from home, away from Dad and Mom, away from nieces and nephews, away from green chile and mountains that scrape the sky.

Home sounds sweet...but oh-so bitter too.

Comments

That Girl said…
It's always, always both.
10:52 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On Becoming

-
Image
When my daughter was born, a new person was born inside of me.  One that thought a lot more about what it meant to be other, outside, and different.  I had lived my whole life inside the comfortable confines of being a middle class white person.  Sure, my parents struggled and lived on the fringes of consumerism.  We had enough, but only just.  My dad worked hard, my mom worked hard, and we got by with enough.  I never spent a whole lot of time considering what not enough looks like.  I had what I needed, I never went hungry, and my parents provided toys and movies and other entertainments that are the hallmark of what we might consider American life. But, when my daughter came to us with a complicated background, this new person inside me started to wonder.  Why were circumstances for others so different from my own?  How would her life be different with another family? What if her birth mother had decided a different path?   These questions, and lots of others, were pushed and enlarg
Read more

Forty three

-
 My sister told me I should blog again.  A lot has happened since I did this thing - I'm a little rusty.  In the last few years, I've sort of relinquished the dream of being a writer - like, a real writer, not a hobby writer - and so the act of writing became...less.  Less important, less often, less satisfying.  It's an instrument out of tune. Why relinquish the dream? Life got busy.  A lot has changed.  In the 5 years since I blogged regularly: My son graduated high school and went on a two year mission for our church. My daughter turned 12, 13, 14, and 15.  Fifteen!   We moved a couple of times. Trump became president.  I got a job and started teaching, then principal-ing and now director-ing.  I'm buried in it right now. My brothers both moved away. A pandemic. My parents moved away (just last week, after a long time planning). And lots of other small and big moments, mashed together in a blur. Now here I am, still trying to figure me out.   I used to think that whe
Read more

And I didn't prepare a speech!

-
Image
My first, and probably only, blogger award! Yay! Thanks to That Girl in Brazil, not only uber cute but uber sweet. I'm supposed to pass on the love to other bloggers by linking them and then posting in their comments. But, seriously, how much more ad space do you guys need? Ok, ok, fine. I pick Mary cause she totally posted her flip flops. And justRandi cause she said she'd come to my house if I sent her an invite. And llegue because she made reference to a certain male body part while shopping in Wal-Mart, plus she beats me at games. and Heather because she makes me giggle and she comments even when my posts are lame. Just passin the <3 I feel super guilty for not linking everybody. But, you wouldn't be on my blog roll if I didn't think you were super cool.
Read more