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kitsap_charlesTook my oldest daughter to the airport; she'd been up from Oklahoma for her summer visitation. Six weeks is both a long time to visit and not nearly long enough. It would be one thing if she were here all the time, but it was definitely time for her to go back home. All our normal family rhythms were upset, and it'll take a little while before we settle back into our regular routine. Don't get me wrong, I'm always happy to have her visit, whether for a week or a dozen, but this one was more of a strain than usual.
Lots of drama during this visit. She's got a steady boyfriend, an almost-fiance-- they've agreed that they want to marry some day, they've set a tentative date about five years hence, but they haven't made "formal" commitments as such. She wants to be able to support herself, or at the minimum to contribute to the family exchequer. So, I don't know whether the stress of being apart for so long, or something else entirely, but they argued via telephone two or three times a week.
I remember being a teenager, but I didn't get into any kind of significant dating until college. (I was in a band, and we had gigs most weekends, which didn't leave much time for a social life; I was also painfully shy, which didn't help.) So I wasn't particularly happy in high school, but I don't think I was ever *that* unhappy. Hard to know what to do-- harder yet knowing what *not* to do, when to just let her talk through her anger and pain to get to the core of what she wants and how she wants to get from where she is to where she wants to be.
So why the yawn? Up at 5:00 a.m. after about three hours of sleep, so we could get to the airport on time. She's got an insane set of flights back to Oklahoma, because she stopped over in Reno on the way up to visit family friends, and it was much more frugal to structure her itinerary as two separate round trips instead of a three-legged trip. So she's got a seven-hour layover in Reno before her other flight leaves, and not much to do while she's there.
I'm rambling. I'd go back to bed, but I'd no sooner get to sleep than I'd need to get up again. We have a family reunion (Angi's, not mine) this afternoon, and I'll need to clean up beforehand. All things being equal, I'd just as soon not go, but it wouldn't look right for me to skip it. Obligations, y'know. And I could fool myself into thinking I'd do chores if I stayed home, but honestly I'd either sleep or geek at my computer.
Zzzz.....
Lots of drama during this visit. She's got a steady boyfriend, an almost-fiance-- they've agreed that they want to marry some day, they've set a tentative date about five years hence, but they haven't made "formal" commitments as such. She wants to be able to support herself, or at the minimum to contribute to the family exchequer. So, I don't know whether the stress of being apart for so long, or something else entirely, but they argued via telephone two or three times a week.
I remember being a teenager, but I didn't get into any kind of significant dating until college. (I was in a band, and we had gigs most weekends, which didn't leave much time for a social life; I was also painfully shy, which didn't help.) So I wasn't particularly happy in high school, but I don't think I was ever *that* unhappy. Hard to know what to do-- harder yet knowing what *not* to do, when to just let her talk through her anger and pain to get to the core of what she wants and how she wants to get from where she is to where she wants to be.
So why the yawn? Up at 5:00 a.m. after about three hours of sleep, so we could get to the airport on time. She's got an insane set of flights back to Oklahoma, because she stopped over in Reno on the way up to visit family friends, and it was much more frugal to structure her itinerary as two separate round trips instead of a three-legged trip. So she's got a seven-hour layover in Reno before her other flight leaves, and not much to do while she's there.
I'm rambling. I'd go back to bed, but I'd no sooner get to sleep than I'd need to get up again. We have a family reunion (Angi's, not mine) this afternoon, and I'll need to clean up beforehand. All things being equal, I'd just as soon not go, but it wouldn't look right for me to skip it. Obligations, y'know. And I could fool myself into thinking I'd do chores if I stayed home, but honestly I'd either sleep or geek at my computer.
Zzzz.....
