So, the hubby and 14 year old Liam are back at his home in Indiana, cleaning out the garage. (One thing uncovered in the garage: 40 rusted, leaking cans of ETHER from the 1970’s!!! YIKES!) Logan and I have been hanging out here in California.
What keeps coming around in my head is the “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda’s”…We haven’t seen Andrew’s parents but once since we moved to CA 7 years ago. Before that, we always lived within a 1 day drive, so it was more like 2-3 times a year; we’d drive up once or twice, they’d drive down once or twice.
Ellen’s advancing Alzheimer’s had really kept her from airplane travel even back when we first moved out here. Lack of time and money has made travelling back to see our families hard. And now it’s too late. Dick’s stroke was caused by a chemotherapy drug he was taking for a form of leukemia. Ellen – she is rarely lucid, the only thing that makes her “light up” is when Dick comes into her room.
So much to say, but I’m done for now. Here are a few pix from when the boys were littler:
alamodestuff Linda has started a weekly meetup based on taking a moment each week to really notice something as you go about your daily grind life. I need to do this. You may want to too – read more about it here:
6 Responses
The aging process is hard to see, especially when it’s your own beloved parents. Consider yourself hugged and remember all the good times you had together and not just the woulda shoulda’s. xo
Don’t beat yourself up over guilt about what you should have done – you did what you could do and long distance family is really hard (speaking from experience). I’m sure Liam and Andrew had fun and giggles cleaning out the garage. Remember the happy times and share them with the boys.
I feel you, Candy. We are at the age when we see both ends of life – the youth of our kids and aging of our parents. It’s the way it’s supposed to be, but that doesn’t make it any easier. We do what we can and hope that love and support carries everyone through.
Thanks for the reminder about how important it is to make an effort. Don’t be too hard on yourself, tho, as I’m sure you always made the most of the times you DID get to see them – and those are certainly good memories for your family. Hope all goes okay in IN.