Lazy, sad Sunday

by | Nov 6, 2011 | mama confessions

Today, my Aunt and Uncle flew back to Denver after their very short whirlwind weekend visit here in Austin.  Their trip was much anticipated, and we had such a great time with them, but I’m somehow left to feel so sad and empty for not just them but all of our out of town family.  Fall and winter bring a solemn spirit of longing for family closeness to me.  I can’t quite explain it.  I just want to be closer to family and see the people I love more often.  This Aunt and Uncle never lived close to us geographically.  From the time I can remember, they always lived out of town and far away from where our family lived.  In your mind, you hope that distance won’t create an obstacle, but it somehow always does — especially with limited resources and time to travel.  We never saw them.  We spoke with them only on special occasions.  When we did see them, it was usually a drive by visit from them or a very short whirlwind visit for us.  This weekend makes me wonder how different things might have been had we lived closer and seen each other more often.  It was so sweet to get to know them and yet, so sad to think of what could have been if only we had spent more time with them growing up.

Experiencing my Grandmother’s death over the past month has made me realize even more how precious time with your loved ones is.  Every second of the day, we are making memories — whether pleasant or not so pleasant.  Many of us get so caught up in the busy-ness of our lives, that we fail to realize how quickly time is actually going by.  We have now lived in Austin, TX for over seven years.  How’s that possible?  I moved away from my hometown to go and explore Europe in 2001, and here it is, almost 2012!  I’m floored by this. 

Anyway, I hate to be Debbie Downer in this post, but I feel very sad right now regarding where we currently are in our lives:  Living far away from all of our family on both sides with two little kids and very limited resources to get up and go spend time with our families when we want to.  Something has to change soon.  But will it? 

OK.  Here’s my gratitude list (long overdue):

I’m grateful for:

  1. Great weekends like this one with wonderful family coming to visit us.  What a fun time we had!!
  2. The fact that my parents are coming to visit in 2 weeks for Thanksgiving!
  3. Friendships here in Austin that are like family in many ways and help to fill that gap and make living far away from family a little easier.
  4. My precious immediate family — my husband and my boys — for they are my reason for living.
  5. Cloudy, rainy days that allow us to rest and forget about the world.
  6. All this food I bought that we haven’t eaten in my fridge.
  7. Not having to cook dinner tonight.
  8. The prospect of eventually moving back home to be closer to my family.
  9. Skype
  10. In preparation for our guests, I was able to get all of my recent pictures printed and hung up on the walls.  THIS IS PROGRESS!

 

 

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