Well, we made it back to suburbia from our jaunt in the woods. And while the woods were just as unbearably hot, the time spent with lots of family and few distractions was just what we needed.
We worked puzzles around the crowded kitchen table, and we crammed too many bodies into one bed to watch movies. We laughed until our cheeks hurt and we cried some too. We suckered an uncle into building a fire in the camp shack for a weenie roast, despite the heat. We harvested what is likely the end of the tomato crop. We found some good excuses to use the beloved pocket knives. We roamed cow fields in a golf cart. We went to town to cruise the Walmart and visit the planetarium. We sat around the table telling old tales, catching up on local gossip and comparing notes on the relentless business of aging.
I was reminded, again, how good it is to be a part of a clan. Each time my youngest heard how he talks almost as much as my great grandmother did; every time my oldest heard how his grandpa would be proud that he can play Wildwood Flower on the fiddle, just like he did; when my middle boy was told that his great grandpa picked a guitar and laughed all the time too... well I couldn't help but feel like my men are beginning to understand what it means to belong.
I take a lot of comfort in the fact that as ridiculous as it is that my husband and I were just 20 and now we're approaching 40 (well, HE is approaching 40.... I am an undisclosed number of years behind him :-), as hard as it is to watch my granny moving slower and tiring more easily, as strange as it is to be at the grown-up's table talking about ailments and the economy, it's going to be alright. Behind us, there is a new generation... a group of young boys who are slowly but surely growing to love their place and their people. It is as it should be.
So yes, we soaked it all in. We stayed up too late. We ate too much, and the time went all too fast. We miss it already.
We missed it as soon as we couldn't see Granny in the review mirror anymore.
Here's a little taste of our brand of heaven:
We hope y'all have found as many reasons to take some long deep breaths and enjoy right here, right now.
