Noah and I spent the last week of March in Modesto. The weather was rainy--but still sunnier than Germany--the company was excellent and the trees and flowers were lovely. Even the 24 hours of travel to get there was worth it after we had recovered for a day or two. I spent time with my family, Noah enjoyed the company of his cousins and the fun of the trampoline and we both soaked up the sun. I even got to take a stroll around the block with Grandpa and we talked about his time in Germany, some 60+ years ago.
I realized that being with my siblings, without the responsibility of all my kids, let me really just live in the moment and enjoy their company. I still made meals and cleaned up, but since it wasn't my 'job' it didn't stress me out at all. And, strange to say, the commute up to Davis and back was one of my favorite times with my sibs. We sang and teased each other and talked about pouring out an In-n-out shake for Grandma (Hyrum's argument being that we needed to pour it out into his mouth since wasting the shake would offend Grandma.)
Even though the purpose behind the trip was to attend Grandma's funeral, the week ended up being more of a celebration than anything else. While the funeral was rightly somber and I certainly shed my share of tears, the gathering of beloved cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandpa still brought happiness. Grandma loved so much to see us all gather together, and the shared remembrances at the service brought us even closer together.
Sometimes I feel really spoiled belonging to my family. It's not like I did anything to deserve them!
2 comments:
Oh, good! I remember you talking about how miserable you were on the trip out. Two days of travel was worth the one day of reunion for me too.
I like how you took pictures of the car trip. That's the kind of thing no one photographs- the ordinary stuff. What if someone had taken a picture of Grandma baking cookies?
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