Seems like it's been forever since I did this. Actually it has almost been a couple of months. Not sure why it has taken so long, but guess that's just the way it is.
Guess I've had some random thoughts lately and maybe writing some of them down will make them all make perfect sense - to someone anyway.
Families are a strange thing. I'm sure for most people, this concept is not anything new and I'm sure to some people "strange" would be an understatement. In this context, I'm talking about my siblings. There are five of us - I have four older brothers. True, I was kind of the spoiled one, being the youngest by nine years and the only girl. Now, as we are all adults, that doesn't seem to play near as big of a role in all of our lives as it did growing up. However, I think I am beginning to realize that my world and their world may not be the same world. Now that both of our parents are gone and we are still going through the process of figuring out what to do with a house full of my their possessions, things are somehow beginning to take on a different light. Don't get me wrong, none of us are fighting over the silver, but everyone certainly does have a different attitude about the whole process. I think the hardest part for me is still coming to grips with the fact that the nest time I pull into the driveway, mom isn't going to be standing there at the door giving me the signature wave that she had. I don't know if it is simply because, having lived away for a period of time, I can go about life as usual and figure that life as usual is still going on there. There are still times when I think that I need to include something in the weekly letter or maybe that something actually warrants a phone call only to realize that...well... you get the picture. Maybe that is why I have dragged my feet so long. I guess once that house is empty, there is no putting stuff back. There is no going back in a seeing things "as usual". Okay, enough of that thought...
We got a letter from my niece the other day. Her and her husband are getting ready to head off to the mission field next year and they are beginning the process of raising support. They are planning on going to Pakistan. Wow. This is not exactly a walk in the park from my understanding of current events. To top it off, they just had their first child in March. This is something, in my understanding, that they have planned on doing for several years. He is actually a lawyer and I believe she majored in Spanish or something along those lines. I hope things fall into place for them and I hope my brother and his wife aren't totally freaking out as I know I may be if it were Carrie or Isaac. I'm just glad they are following what they believe is the way to go. But still...wow.
Okay, there is probably a bunch of other stuff I could write her for clarity of thought, but I think it is time to get some food. Hope all is well in your world.
Staying hopeful -
JAH
3 comments:
I know what you mean.
I called my sister Eileen (9 of 10 if we were Borg), once and asked her for my Mom's potato salad recipe [gee, can you folks tell I'm Irish? sister Eileen, potato salad...] Anyway, she says "oh, I've got a great one with mustard I can give you." I was almost offended, there is NO better potato salad than the kind my Mom made, what was the matter with her? However, on the other end of the family, I was talking to my other sister, Kathleen (again, Irish!) the oldest in the family, and she said she had noticed I had bought a Christmas figure my Mom had off of e-bay, and told me she had the original one of my Mom's in her basement, and when I said "I'll trade you mine for hers." She didn't even flinch, in fact, she knew I was going to say it. It's the same figure, they are identical, but I want the one my Mom owned and put out every year. It's interesting how we turned out differently on the subject. I think most of my family is like me, though. And my 9/10 sister is just very distracted with her own family. Which I can understand.
so... I know what you mean.
Thanks for the comments. I guess we are all unique in the way we present our emotions/feelings to others, but I also believe in families, there is that underneath "stuff" that will always be a common influence in our lives. I can see that in our own family here in Indiana as well as with our family in the larger sense. I guess that is what keeps life interesting...
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