Text: (from a friend)
Hey Kar, How are you? Have your family and friends headed home?… When the dust settles we will be due a long walk/wog and catch up. Also if you and J need a date night some time soon let me know – we can watch all three boys here one night so you can reconnect without a crowd… Our boys would love it and it must be impossible to get time for just the 2 of you with so much going on. Offer stands whenever you need it.
Me: Thanks for the kid-care offer, would love to take you up on that soon. Although at this point I might just fall asleep in my coffee if J & I went out…
My Reflections:
After the rest of our family and friends have departed, Mark and his family stay for a few more days. There are outings to the park, gardens, and the local yogurt joint with my nephews and my boys, and family dinners with the whole lot of us. We enjoy the time to spend together without so much on the to-do list.
All too soon it’s time for Mark and family to head home though. Times like these make it even more apparent how hard it is having so many miles between us. Visits are not just a jump, hop, and a skip away. But we’re grateful for the time we’ve had together, even under the hard circumstances. I know Papa would be glad to see all his grand boys together like this. And I’m glad that just two months before his diagnosis, Papa did see his grand boys all together like this, just under much different circumstances. Mark and family had been out for a visit then, when everything was still “ok” and we were all in the dark that that would be the last time we’d all be together with Papa.
I’m glad for the good memories from that trip, but also for good memories from this trip too. Cause we’re family, just minus one on earth presently.
Oldest and youngest grandsons together.
“Rousing” card games.
Blurry group shot, but they’re all looking at the camera (sort of).
Baseball at the park.
Little M showing off to his cousins by sitting up on his own for the first time!
Mark’s oldest sitting in Papa’s “usual spot” in front of the computer… Had to do a double-take when he was sitting there because I am so used to seeing Papa in this position. Glad to see Papa’s chair filled by future generations (carrying on the torch of computer card games or online research!).
Obligatory cousins-on-the-couch in birth order photo taken from trip just months prior (Little M is just a bit out of order).
And the obligatory age-order photo taken again on this most recent trip (this tradition started when J Jr was just a baby).
Love and safe travels Mark & family! (Next time you come out, I think we’re going to need a bigger couch for this crazy crew of boys!)
63 Goodbyes 