Wow - where does the time go? I have often read the quote "Work swells to fit the time allowed" - or something to that effect. However, it seems that more often my work swells to exceed the time there is! This is a good thing and a bad thing. The best thing about it is that time moves so quickly, to a couple with a self-imposed sentence to living where we are for a specified aount of time this is good thing. The bad part is that being busy and with time moving so quickly, it's sometimes easy to forget about the important things. Like your friends.. and family.. and your spouse.
Luckily I am not the only one to succumb to the time bandit. A recent email from one of my dearest friends shared the lovely news of her family growing again (YAY!). And the email spawned a flurry of emails from our other best-ies about her other thoughts on getting together for a"gathering" of our families next summer after the new one's arrival. A challenge now that we're all grown up working and living in 3 different states and at different stages of family life and not in college anymore. The last time we all got together was at the wedding. That was almost 2 years ago.
So then family.. we really take them for granted. I have seen many families in recent years lose a member unexpectedly and much too early. So last Christmas's horrible awareness that I had not seen my sister in almost a year festered all spring so I made it a priority in the early summer to visit her. It was a humbling and gratifying experience to see the forever 10 year old in mind now as a mature 22 year old woman, and knowing that she is forging her path in the world and doing it quite well! The baby in the family is driving now, which by all counts means she isn't much of the Kindergartner I remember. The middle one I probably talk to the most so I feel more connected to, but I haven't seen her in person since Christmas this year, mostly because she was on another continent. It's time for a trip home I believe. Oh, how I miss my red-headed trio!
And then the spouse. That absolutely wonderful man I get to spend nearly every night with. You'll notice I didn't say come home to or every night. This is because, well, sometimes I come home after him and there are a lot of nights coming up that I'll be in a hotel for a work conference and not with him. We're busy people and thank goodness we're both ok with that. However I think he thinks I take him for granted. What he doesn't know is that I couldn't do half of what I do without him. He makes me better and want to do better and be better for everyone, including him. I bet he feels like he's out on a limb though!
