Parents

A terrible photo, I did not take it.  I hope to get better pictures of my folks next week.

Parents.  We all have 'em.  Some of us love ours.  Some of us hate ours. I'm in the love mine camp.  I do, I can't seem to help myself.  Love 'em to pieces.  It's a hard love though, since they live so far away.  I only get to see both of them together once a year at most, some times less.  My dad used to visit more often because he would travel to SoCal on business on a fairly regular basis.  The Tweedles have gotten to know him pretty well. My mom less so since she didn't visit as often.  But I do talk to them once or twice a week.

They retired last year (as I may have mentioned here), but due to having to completely redo my grandparents farm house into something a bit more livable, they haven't had time to travel or do anything really they had wanted to upon retiring.  The house, thankfully, was finally finished a month or two ago, and since they've finally managed to unpack a reasonable amount, they're taking a trip out to see us.  They just told me today, they'll be here next Thursday (not tomorrow!).  I cannot wait.

The thing is, while I've spent most of my adult life away from them - the last 11 years in SoCal no less, since having The Tweedles, and having my sister pass away two years ago, it's been a lot harder having them so far away.  In fact, when they were ready to retire, we offered to let them build in my rather spacious back yard instead of at the farm, so they could be closer to us.  I regret not pushing harder for that.  I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference, as their reasoning to live in East Texas was entirely their own, but I should have tried.  I wish The Tweedles could spend every day coming home to two loving grandparents who live so close.  Getting to have that love-bond you can only get with your grandparent.  I want them to really know each other.

Thankfully, I feel like I had a very close relationship with my grandparents on my Mom's side.  Odd seeing how they lived in East Texas, and we lived, well, not in East Texas.  But we went to see them every summer for a long time.  All of us cousins did.  It created an environment where we got to become a lot closer as an extended family.  To this day I consider my cousin Kevin one of my best friends.  I know no matter what, he'll be there if I need him.  Not everyone has that sort of support from their immediate family, much less their extended one.

So The Hubs and I have already talked about continuing the tradition of sending our Tweedles to the farm for summers.  The kids will love the freedom of wild open spaces, wild animals, bugs, frogs, fire flies, fishing and swimming in the lake just like I did when I was a child.  And my parents will get to really spend some quality time with them.  I wish it had worked out for GG and LW to have the same experience.  They would have loved it.  Maybe their kids will someday get to experience the farm the way they should have.

At any rate.  The Old People will be here in just over a week.  I miss them.  It can't come soon enough.

Seriously.. Thoughts?