Time continues to pass. On Friday afternoon I met up with a dear friend for lunch, one who I haven’t seen in over a year. We enjoyed a meal by the window, catching up on each other’s lives through the exchanging of words and the sharing of pictures. We’d met almost halfway between her home and mine, and decided again we needed to do this more often. Friday evening brought more food and fellowship. A man from church had bought the pastors and their wives tickets to attend the Lutheran High School auction. I bid on a succulent plant that I originally thought was fake, thinking I could put it on my living room bookshelf. When I found out the plant was real, I decided to bring up to my mom for her birthday.

My cousin was having a baby shower up north. Without the presence of my dad’s parents holding us together, I feel more pulled toward the opportunities to see relatives. I originally wasn’t going to go, as the kids had a track meet and a baseball game that day and I thought the accomodation of the schedules would be simpler without the added element of me going away. We ended up only having a track meet, which Josh had the boys for along with my mother-in-law who usually attends the sporting events with us. My father-in-law, entering planting season, took one of the boys to the field with him.

We had a wonderful visit. I was able to see cousins, two aunts, my parents, all the siblings except for two including my sister-in-law, and my grandma. Our family is entering into another transition, with more spreading out into different directions. My parents have plans to move closer down here, about an hour south to where we live now. My brother and his wife are moving back to Iowa, where her parents live, and where he recently found a new, salaried job with full benefits. My littlest sister is transferring colleges to attend in Michigan. I’m going to miss the house where my parents are currently living.

The landlord they rent from is needing to sell. They looked around for houses closer to my two sisters in the northern part of the state. The prices however were more affordable down here, once you got into the more southern portion. This move is hitting some of my siblings hard, as it’s taking my parents farther away from the shorter drive that’s allowed for some more accessible years. I haven’t really had too many feelings about things. My grandma is still living with them, and the house they found already had a beautiful built-in ramp that leads up to a deck and into the back door. My grandma told me earlier this month that she thinks she’s on a countdown to go see Jesus and Dad.

I left earlier this morning to meet Josh and the kids a little more than halfway back home. He was filling in for one of the local pastors. We met back up at a restaurant and enjoyed a mid-morning breakfast catching up on the weekend. It brought me joy to pull into the parking lot and see them standing under the overhang out of the rain. I asked if they wanted to come sit in the cars until a table opened up and it was time to go in. One of the kids said it was more adventurous this way, and for brief times like this one, I can see that it is. The weekend was a good combination of enjoying the time away then being glad to come home.