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an explanation
May. 26th, 2008 09:54 pmOf 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.
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.
