I had a great visit with my family this weekend. I missed my husband terribly. I told everyone we are socially stunted because we NEVER have social engagements then when we do, they are all on the same weekend. So he had a birthday party to go to in his home town while I was at my sister's house.
The play my niece was in was the cutest thing I've seen in awhile. The kids sang their songs and did their dance moves in place with no fear of what they looked like. They were truly having a ball and it was refreshing to see. I loved that sheepish smile I got when she finally found her family, including me, out in the audience. I waved and she gave me a little wave back. So darn cute! My nephew had a great time in the audience too. He enjoyed the play and was happy that his teacher in school was sitting behind him. Several of the girls were flirting with him after the play and he loved it. They kept poking him and he kept saying 'Ouch' loudly. I was afraid that they were making fun of him or something. But when I asked him if they were hurting him he smiled and said, "No, I just say that because it makes them laugh". Flirting 101- he passed! He also told me he likes to play with Tomboys instead of Girly-girls. But one of his friends is a Tomboy and a Girly-girl so that makes her a "Tomgirl" he said. FANTASTIC!!
I helped my sister with her flowers. Turns out she knew what she was doing and knew what she wanted so we dug and weeded and pruned and mixed and fertilized. We ended up with a beautiful display of flowers by her mailbox and dashes of color in the two beds in the front of her house. Just in time too because she didn't know it but her husband had arranged a surprise birthday party for her on Saturday night. Her friends and their kids showed up and brought everything. They were GREAT! We all jumped out and said surprise! It was great because she had no clue. The kids played and we all had ice cream and cake. My nephew got to show off his new Wii my husband and I had gotten him. I think the whole family was happy.
As I was leaving I wondered why I hadn't been down to see them since Christmas. It's only three hours~ away. Since I lost my brother in law last year unexpectedly, you would think I would've learned to not take people, especially family, for granted. I get to see them in two weeks though so that's great. No Wii at my house so I'll have to find some other toys, etc.
After leaving my sister's house, I went to the family reunion. My mother's side always has one each year. I'm so glad they do. My 85 year old grandmother looked better than me! I hope I have that to look forward to- still looking great and feeling great. She's one tough cookie. We only seem to eat and run though and not have that much time together. I got to eat with my Dad and my sister/husband/niece/nephew. Great food! .....although someone actually brought chicken nuggets- the kind shaped as dinosaurs and tater tots. My niece asked for squash and greens and butterbeans. Good girl!
Last, I went over to Durham to check on my brother-in-laws house. We're trying to sell it and while we had a buyer, it fell through. Guess it's hard for folks these days to get a loan with all the junk loans that were dealt in the last 5 years. The flowers in the front of the house were so beautiful. It made me sad. I wondered if my brother in law liked them when they bloomed. He may not have cared- I never asked him. We had last visited him in 2005. I keep wracking my brain to remember if I was nice to him. All I'm sure of is that I took him for granted. His passing has left a huge hole in my life too (and my husband's of course). I loved my brother in law dearly but don't know if he knew that. He was so funny. I loved when he came to visit because he and my husband would get going on something and run it into the ground. It was hysterical. He always made me laugh. He had the biggest laugh too. I don't think I ever told him how much I looked forward to his visits. I don't know that I ever told him that I appreciated him visiting on Thanksgiving. I don't know that I ever told him how proud I was of him. But I'm sure I took him for granted. And I have to live with that every day.
Make that call to someone in your family. Send a 'thinking about you' email or card to someone you haven't talked to in awhile. Schedule a trip to visit your family. Take some cookies or cupcakes to your elderly neighbor that you've only waved to on occasion the past year. Just take 5 minutes to reconnect with someone. You never know how long you or they'll be here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I remember when Mike planted the flowers in his yard. I'm not a big flower person. But he was so excited about planting them. I didn't particularly care about hearing about the flowers. Or even looking at them. I loved listening to Mike talk (and laugh). And I could've listened to him forever. I wish I'd been a little more interested in some of things that I wasn't so interested in at the time. Mike definitely liked the flowers.
I miss him so much. I've got to the point where I try to block out thinking about Mike. Todd helps that by having that really great picture of Mike on his site so that whenever I click on his site I get to remember how much his being gone hurts.
Post a Comment