Two Days Off

Life keeps me busy and most of the time it’s a good thing. As I’ve written before, just because I don’t write doesn’t mean I don’t miss my mom or still wish she were here with her family. I said to my son the other day something like “before Grandmom died, when my life made sense.” Sometimes things just don’t make sense and that’s when I miss my mom the most. I need to talk to her and I do. I just wish I could hear a response. And I always think about how life would be if she were still here with us.

Last week I took 2 days off from work. On Thursday, I went to visit my cousin to celebrate his 103rd birthday. Yes, you read that right. Longevity runs in our family. Technically, John is my first cousin, twice removed. In 1965, John married my parents. He gave the before dinner toasts at both my weddings. And he officiated my grandfather’s funeral. John is an amazing man – his body may be aging, but his mind is still sharp. I lost touch with John after I married my husband in 2002. Last year during my genealogy research frenzy, I realized John was still alive. We got in touch again and I’ve gone to visit him several times over the past year. He is truly an inspiration to me.

The get together for John’s birthday was an open house. I arranged to meet another cousin (still haven’t figured out our exact connection) at this open house. We’ve emailed and talked on the phone, but I met him in person for the first time last Thursday. We went out to lunch and spent hours talking about family history. This is the side of the family connected with the castle in Scotland that I mentioned in a post on ancestry. I needed a day out, a day away from my house (I work from home), a day away from NJ. I felt rejuvenated when I got home.

On Friday I ran errands and cleaned, still feeling the “high” and peacefulness from the day before. My daughter has always had long hair. She’s been growing it since she was little. The words hair cut were banned from her vocabulary – she’d only get her hair trimmed. Well all that changed on Friday afternoon when my daughter got many inches taken off her hair. When I reminded her that she wouldn’t let me get my hair cut or colored because we were twins, she told my that she was her own person now. They grow up so fast.