Close Quarters

It seems like forever since I’ve had time to post and honestly, I’ve missed it. We had a busy week with Kevin’s family in town, and I enjoyed just living in the moment with all of them (Kevin’s mom and dad, sister, brother-in-law and niece). They came in last Saturday and left yesterday, so we had a nice visit.

 I wasn’t quite sure how it would work out with 6 adults and 1 toddler in our 1100 square foot house, but it actually turned out fine. Sharing 1 bathroom is always interesting, but I thoroughly enjoyed the closeness. We talked a lot, laughed even harder, visited some of the sites that this great commonwealth has to offer (do I sound like a tour guide yet?), and just enjoyed each others company.

I was genuinely sad to see them go yesterday. After dropping them off at the airport, I drove home in the minivan wiping away the tears as they fell down my cheeks. I was sad to return to “normal life,” especially since my normal is pretty difficult these days. For the past couple of weeks, my life was planned. The week leading up to their visit, I was busy preparing, grocery shopping and cleaning up the house. This past week I was busy enjoying them being here. Now I’m back to the uncertainty that my life is right now. I hate that – and I hate that I am struggling to just rest in where God has me right now. He is enough, but yet it’s still difficult feeling like you don’t have a “purpose” in your day to day life.

There were some difficult moments during their visit. Our precious niece, Vanessa, slept in Andrew’s crib and used his stroller. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought twice about her using his things – that’s what family does, right? But when your son didn’t get to use those things at all, it hurts a little.

In all reality, I’m glad she was able to use his things. It makes me proud that my niece slept in her cousin’s bed and used his stroller. The hurting has nothing to do with Vanessa using his things – it’s really just missing him and not being able to see him use his things. By the way, Vanessa is absolutely precious. I thoroughly enjoyed getting some kisses and some “snuggle time” with her. It’s hard to snuggle with an 18 month old who is constantly on the go, but I managed to get some in.

We did some really fun things while they were here. We drove along Skyline Drive and took some pictures at some of the overlooks. We visited Williamsburg and enjoyed some sweets at the candy shop. We toured the Living Museum in Newport News and saw a cool IMax show at the Virginia Science Museum in Richmond. As you can probably tell, we put some miles on that minivan. I’m so glad we rented it, since it allowed us to drive everywhere all together in 1 vehicle. I could get used to a minivan! Maybe one of these days!! 🙂

I think it’s funny how my mothering instinct still comes out even though Andrew isn’t here with us. During the visit, I really wanted to make sure that Andrew wasn’t forgotten. One thing I really wanted to do was visit the cemetery together. The day before they left, we went to the local craft store and bought a plastic vase (since the marker and vase haven’t come in yet) as well as some flowers. I also bought a cute little scarecrow to put next to the vase. My mother-in-law helped me put the flowers together (I’m not the best with floral arrangements), and we headed out to Andrew’s grave site. Kevin brought the tripod and camera so we could get a family picture. I’ll post pictures tomorrow (as you can see from the time on this post, it’s getting late and I haven’t transferred the pics from the camera to the computer yet).

The week really did fly by and I wish they could have stayed longer. We don’t get to see them as much as we’d like since they live so far away (Tupelo, MS and Memphis, TN), so I really wish it could have lasted longer. Until next time I guess!!