Stories of Home

 I know I'm re-posting some of the same pictures -- I can. Its my blog. This is my dad with Wyatt. His namesake. Wyatt's middle name is Eric, after my dad. And this is the first time my dad saw his 4th grandchild. It was precious to say the least and brought me to tears more than once.

I cherish my daddy and wish he was closer. He is one of the few people I can feel comfortable being myself with - he loves me when I'm being emotional and needy, when I'm succeeding, when I'm being stupid and when I'm far away and haven't talked to him in weeks. He doesn't judge me by my mistakes and supports me in whatever I do. My children adore him and talk about him all them time. They love their grandpa and really miss him. He is so good with kids - his own and his grandkids. In fact, he was the first person during my trip home to make Wyatt laugh. Daddy played peek-a-boo with him and held him constantly. He carried Wyatt around proudly and it made my heart happy.

These are my daddy's other kids. My brothers, Justin and Jordan. They are also fantastic and also too far away. Actually, they live with my dad so I'm encouraging the whole family to move to Arizona. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with them growing up and I'd love to be more involved with their lives. There's only so much you can do over the phone -- especially with teenage boys. :) Both boys are working - Justin is a manager at Pizza Plus and Jordan is going to school to be a firefighter. He wants to fight wildfires and possibly even be a pilot.

My trip home was completely spur of the moment and wasn't even my idea -- it was completely funded by my dad's girlfriend. (Long story)  She wanted to fly me home so I could go to my dad's birthday party. He turned 48 on February 8th. It ended up being quite an ordeal with the last minute scheduling and other issues, but I wouldn't trade the time I spent with our family for anything. I was able to spend a day and a half with Mamie (my great-grandma) and Grammie, Pappy (grandpa and grandma) and my uncles and their families. Then I spent a day and a half with my dad and brothers and a few hours with Lowell's parents and grandma on my way to the airport. It was a very quick trip, but I feel so blessed to have been able to introduce the family to Wyatt and to spend some much needed time wrapped in the arms of some of my favorite people.

I got a huge hug from my daddy and I would've been content to stay there a few hours. We had dinner together, and sat up and visited until neither of us could keep our eyes open. There was no big party or major events - we just did life together for a few hours and it was precious.

 I sat and talked to Grammie in her living room like I haven't been able to in 3 years... I miss her encouragement, her understanding, her wisdom and the perspective she gives me. Just adore her. We didn't get a picture of the two of us together I just realized... must be rectified on my next trip!

I didn't miss "home" as much as I thought I would once I got there. What I mean is, I didn't miss the country, the towns, the places where I spent so much time growing up. It was the people - a few special people - that I want to kidnap and bring down into my life in Arizona. I miss them and I want them closer. I suppose for now I'll have to get by with phone calls and letters. But it made my heart happy to be close to them - if only for the weekend.