wildcard_47: (technicolor arwen reading)
[personal profile] wildcard_47
Of course, the moment I stop LJ-stalking full time, everyone on my f-list decides to post eighteen times in four days. *grins* Despite the trouble catching up with all of your journals, I'm excited to see that you're having wonderful times in your respective homes/conventions/places of interest.

I've spent the past two weekends with my mom's family, which is why I've been MIA. Mom's younger sister, my aunt, just had surgery to remove thyroids from her uterus. Literally, grapefruit-sized thyroids. She needed to have a total hysterectomy as well as some other additional procedures in order to get everything out. To put it nicely, she's had a very rough recovery -- was in the hospital for two weeks due to surgical complications -- so we went over to try and give her husband, my uncle Richard, a break from his caretaking duties and a chance to get some sleep.

Anyway, my aunt was finally able to go home this week, and we spent Friday and Saturday with their family, doing some chores and trying to lift my aunt's spirits. They actually live in the old homestead where my mom grew up -- a farmhouse in rural Virginia. It was so strange to go back to the farm, because I haven't been there in five or six years, not since my grandmother was moved from there into a nursing facility near my hometown. The place is absolutely beautiful, and absolutely falling to pieces. It was old to begin with, and trying to keep it in good condition would mean devoting constant time and effort, as well as money, into the project, which just isn't feasible for my relatives. So, seeing the farm in that state was bittersweet, but it was also uplifting, because I had so many lovely childhood memories come rushing back into my head. Picking green apples from the trees in Grandma's garden -- picking flowers in the snake-infested fields across the road. Playing with the dogs. Running around the yard with my cousins. Sitting on my Grandpa's lap and listening to his inappropriate stories.....it was all good times, and a great laugh to remember.

Coming back to that farm as an adult was very strange, though, especially because it's now my aunt, uncle, and cousin's house, rather than the house of my grandparents. Little imperceptible changes kept tripping me up. Grandma's kitchen table was still there, but her bedroom got turned into an office. There's satellite TV in the house. The furnace isn't cranked up to a constant eighty-eight degrees. I'm not sure I can adaquately describe how it felt to come back and have everything be different, but I did like getting to know the new aspects of that environment again. Mom and I spent the weekend planting flowers, doing laundry, organizing, cleaning, and attempting to take the load of to-do's off of my uncle and fifteen-year old cousin. It worked as best as those two-day missions can work -- we got a lot done, but there was still tons of work left to do.

Overall, though, it was really great. Despite seeing my family under these circumstances, I enjoyed hanging out with them, which is something we haven't gotten to do in quite awhile. My cousin and I got to talk more like adults and not as "annoying teen to annoying child" as we used to. My mom says she'd like to visit them a bit more this summer. I hope we can.

Date: May 27th, 2008 03:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dozmuffinxc.livejournal.com
Overall, though, it was really great. Despite seeing my family under these circumstances, I enjoyed hanging out with them, which is something we haven't gotten to do in quite awhile.

I know the feeling. Going to New York last month was one of the strangest things, being there for the reasons that we were even though it was glorious to see our family who we're constantly separated from.

I'm glad you were able to visit the farm, even if it was in light of your aunt's surgery. I wish her and your family the best! Medical stays are crummy, and I'm sure your aunt must be so glad to be home. No doubt it will do her further recovery good to be back in her own house! I can't imagine how much your visit must have lifted everyone's spirits. I hope you will be able to go again during the summer, and really get to enjoy yourself with your family.

Date: May 27th, 2008 05:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wildcard-47.livejournal.com
Thanks for the good wishes! I'll pass them on. :)

medical stays are crummy, and I'm sure your aunt must be so glad to be home
Yeah, and it was really hard for her in hospital, especially since she expected (a bit unreasonably) to be out and at home within two or three DAYS. And she's a nurse, so she was very informed -- almost too much so -- about the process/recovery of everything.

Like I said, it would be awesome to go back more this summer.

Date: May 27th, 2008 04:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tkurogrym.livejournal.com
Glad to hear that your aunt seems to be surrounded by caring family and that she's home again from hospital. There's always something bittersweet about "the old homeplace," or any place laced with childhood memory, I think. Lovely memories here. And isn't it funny how that "annoying teen" and "annoying child" somehow grow up into reasonable, interesting individuals? That still amazes me -- and some of my "annoying" cousins are in their early thirties now! ;-)

Date: May 27th, 2008 05:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wildcard-47.livejournal.com
isn't it funny how that "annoying teen" and "annoying child" somehow grow up into reasonable, interesting individuals?
It is odd to note the changes in both of us as we've gotten older. We used to fight like cats and dogs -- she'd shut my finger in a drawer, I'd hog the swing in return -- all of that wonderful stuff. At fifteen, she's one of the closest cousins to me, just in age, but we've never really gotten to know each other because of the distance between our families.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with everyone, honestly. I've come to realize that don't know much about my family as people, so getting to know them more as individuals is a really cool thing for me.

Date: May 28th, 2008 03:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amaz0n-princess.livejournal.com
LOL, sorry about that... but you did decide to go on hiateous while I was at Abbey Road On The River. :P

I'm glad you got to see your family, despite the circumstances.

Date: May 28th, 2008 03:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wildcard-47.livejournal.com
you did decide to go on hiateous while I was at Abbey Road On The River
Yeah, no kidding! :) The world always seems to work out that way. And just think, the next time I post up a storm, you'll probably be in some remote location. It'll be good times.

Date: May 29th, 2008 04:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flyingauk.livejournal.com
Wow. Grapefruit, huh? That's very large. It's not everyday you hear a medical reference to a grapefruit, either. Grape, maybe... apple, orange, pea, sometimes even marble, which would be most unfortunate to eat.

Well whatever the fruit, I hope she gets better quickly!

Date: May 29th, 2008 05:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wildcard-47.livejournal.com
Thanks! I think she's slowly but surely recovering. :)

Date: May 29th, 2008 04:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] maypanic.livejournal.com
It's ridiculous how fast they expect people to go home after major surgery these days, how wonderful that your Aunt has extended family to rely on! BTW, I think you mean fibroids- no one has thyroids in their uterus, unless their anatomy was designed by Picasso.

It's wonderful when the age gap becomes less important and you can become friends as well as family.

Date: May 29th, 2008 05:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wildcard-47.livejournal.com
no one has thyroids in their uterus, unless their anatomy was designed by Picasso
Ha! Well, I guess I do mean fibroids, then. Oops. I'll have to pass that tidbit on to my mom -- she's the one who got me saying 'thyroids' in the first place!

*laughs*

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