It was the first time Fletcher got to meet my brother as well as my grandfather, plus sweet reunions were had with my parents, my grandmother and cousin Crystal.
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| Nadine soaks in some baby love. |
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| Grandpa shared his insightful visions with a fascinated Fletcher bean. |
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| Grammy proved herself (again) as the queen of bedtime stories with a freshly bathed and 'jammied' babe perched upon her lap. |
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| Uncle Eric and Fletcher talked sports until the wee hours of nap time. |
We had such an amazing time. Greg was able to stay 4 or 5 days before he had to head back to the west coast for work, but Fletcher and I got to stay nearly 2 full weeks. We definitely missed Greg, but the time we had soaking up the sweet face time with my relatives left us filled to the brim with their love and hospitality.
Since moving to California, it has always been tough to be so far from family. Now throw a kid in the mix and the distance breeds a heartache that I would rather not feel, but that hollow pit in my stomach is always there when we're dropped off at the airport to say our curbside goodbyes.
For a good week after returning to our "real life" here in LA, I moped and grew teary at the drop of a pin, feeling sorry for myself as I tried to ignore that familiar dull ache of homesickness. After 2 weeks of doting attention of loved ones, the grass definitely seemed greener anywhere but here, and I found myself battling the "if only's" something awful. Dangerous ground, I'm afraid, because the "if only's" tend to paint a very appealing picture of a place that doesn't exist.
Here's the thing, it's not about location. Truly. Years of being a military brat taught me that.
No, it's about contentment. And I find that contentment springs not from location, or things, or even people -- but from gratitude.
So I started refocusing on all the blessings I have to be thankful for, and steadily and surely my contentment grew. Even as I longed for less distance between me and my beloved family members, I could savor the precious memories we made during our recent trip, and count myself lucky that time spent in person with that bunch is never wasted. Perhaps I'd be tempted to take my loved ones for granted if I saw them every day? (I hope not!)
We had a fantastic trip, and I'm eager for the next visit we get to have. In the meantime, however, I'm very thankful for the life Greg and Fletcher and I have here in our sweet little bungalow in California, where we have a beautiful community of loved ones that we would miss just as much if we were ever to relocate east...
I might as well enjoy the now for as long as I have it, the future has been coming so fast lately that I would hate to look back and miss something that I couldn't seem to see even when it was right in front of me. Rather, I'd like to look back and think to myself: "Yep, I sucked the marrow completely out of that moment. Good job, me!"
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| Like this moment here? Marrow: good and sucked! |
