Catching Up

We arrived in Albany late on Sunday afternoon. Our car is packed to the roof with all the things we needed to survive in Boston. Now that we are staying at Erin's house we find much of our "stuff" extraneous so most of it did not come in with us. Our car is our overstuffed closet.

It isn't easy living like this. Olivia gives up her room to move in with Sam whenever we visit. Her "stuff", however, remains in her room. Hence, the closet in the driveway.

Every time we come north to visit the kids I find myself wistfully looking at local real estate, wishing for a little place of our own. A house, a cottage, an in-law apartment. Just a place to spread out. It would be fun to have the grands come to spend the night. It would be great to have a place to entertain. It would be wonderful to have a quiet little retreat when we need it.

I look on-line. I look in the paper. I drive around looking for signs; for sale signs, even rental signs. All this looking has become an obsession, but in reality it is only a pastime. We don't spend enough time in New York to justify the taxes and upkeep of a house even if we could find the perfect place on the smallest budget. Why would we want to spend every vacation here doing the necessary upkeep and improvement projects I would be sure to want. Why would we want to have to lay out money to mow a lawn or plow a driveway for a far away place that we only use a fraction of any year. We've never wanted to be snowbirds, spending half the year in the north and the other half in the south. We love our retirement home in Georgia. We love spending time with our Sun City family. Still....there is a powerful draw to be with family.

Surely this has been most eloquently illustrated by our current situation. I feel torn; almost selfish to be planning to return to Georgia in another week or so. But Kelly is doing very well, considering she is barely 3 weeks post op. The healing she needs to do now is a slow process. The restrictions she faces will lessen in time. Others will gladly step up to take our place. For this, we are grateful. The emotional healing will take time too. Gaining confidence in her appearance will happen almost without perception. Emerging from the cocoon may take a while but I know that soon our butterfly will recognize how beautiful she is.

Tomorrow our day will start by attending "Morning Program" at Liv's school. Her principal will present her with the book that her parents are donating to the school library in her name. This is a big honor for a second grader. Liv will get to bring the book home so that we can read it together. We will be back at Liv's school again on Friday for "Grandparent's Day". She is tickled pink that we can participate in this event. So are we. Next Friday we will do it all over again at Sam's school. It is so great to be here to share in these special times.

Tomorrow will be a big day for Kelly. This is the last weekend of the final class in her EMBA program. It is important to be an active participant in class tomorrow and Friday. Her classmates have arranged to pick her up and get her to school. Tom/Eric are on call to pick her up the moment she feels she has reached her limit. Graduation is May 16. The timing could be better, but this is the goal Kelly has been seeking for two years now. Keep your fingers crossed for her.

I'll keep you posted.


















I will keep you posted on our plans. We look forward to being home soon.