Christmas weekend I was sick as a dog and missed out on seeing my extended family, my godchildren, and my grandma. Eh, whatever, right? They'll be there next weekend when I come in for New Year's Eve. ack. Not so much. Monday morning after Christmas, mom calls to say that dad's mom is in the hospital b/c of a fall. New Year's celebration (first big family NYE party in a decade) is cancelled and all the fireworks, etc are to be saved for the 4th. Mawmaw isn't doing that well, but she's still conscious and talking. We made a visit to the hospital in Alexandria to see her and AC got to visit with her and talk a bit. Fast-forward a week and I get the call to pack my suit and the girls and come home to the country for a funeral. Not the holiday season I'd hoped for...not by a mile. Losing someone is never easy, but time heals all pain. The toughest part was watching my dad say goodbye to his mom. My last grandparent and the person who taught me Cajun French (the little I know) and also helped to inspire my love of plants. We truly were a lucky family for having her and she will be truly missed.
We came back and got on down to business as usual. Wake up, work, daycare, dinner, rinse, repeat...all the while thinking about how odd it is that she's not there anymore. Lucky for her, after 22 years, she's with her husband. I bet that was a sight for sore eyes!
Anyways...looking around my house tonight, I'm extremely grateful. I have a beautiful wife who is carrying our second child...and looks amazing while doing it. We have a spunky little 2-yr old who throws her arms around my neck and says 'big hug daddy' and gives me a kiss. We have a great home (nothin fancy but we love it), dependable transportation, and a wonderful extended family that loves us very much. We both have jobs, and that's more than a lot of people can say. Do we love them? I can't say that. But they pay us and we have insurance, etc., and the lights and heat stay on in the house. Not bad.
Sure, we could always want more. That's human. But we don't really NEED more. Looking around, I see suffering of every kind. Lost loved ones. Strained relationships. Unemployment. Sadness & Suffering. It's easy to dismiss or ignore the plight of another and focus on your own unimportant whining. What's difficult to do is to tell yourself to shut up and be happy with what you've got.
Tonight I feel as though I've got better perspective on things. We're just an average American family moving through the maze of life, thankful for the chance to come home and be loved. Nothing special, nothing fancy. Just us.
Just average.
I like it.
