Liane came to visit on Sunday afternoon with her 4 1/2 year old twins, Kayleigh and Brian. Since she lives overseas we only get to see each other once a year. This year we were lucky enough to have them sleep over. Lillianna and I were excited for weeks before the big event. Our children love to be together so that part was easy. Catching up on "everything" that we wanted to was not as easy.
The thing we missed most of all was our daily chatter of nothing in particular. You know how you just sit there and whatever pops in your head is worthy of a discussion? That is so much fun to do. We thought we were going to have a deep discussion on whatever needed to be talked about but what we really needed was just to be together again: laughing, exchanging parenting ideas, talking about the future.
After we put the kids to sleep, we went in to the living room and chatted with Rich until midnight when we all decided we couldn't stay awake another minute. It was such a comfortable feeling to have Liane and her children sleeping in our home. For a very short time we were all together. The next morning we got up and made a big breakfast. It was such a treat on a Monday morning. Rich left for work at 9am and that gave me 6 hours with Liane before she had to head off to her sister's house. Six hours seemed like a good amount of time but it just flew.
We took the kids to the pool for an hour of swimming and then back home to change and have lunch. We sat outside in the shade under a tree while the kids played on the grass.We kept thinking if we just got them busy we could chat but every 2 seconds we were interrupted by one of them needing or wanting something. It was so frustrating because although we weren't upset with the children we were frustrated by lack of time for us. I tried so hard not to look at my watch and realize we only had 3 more hours, then 2, then 1. One hour? How could 5 hours go by so fast? It didn't seem fair. I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes. How was I going to say good bye to Liane again for another year? I just didn't think I could face it.
I willed the tears not to spill down my cheeks but it didn't work. I brushed a tear away before anyone noticed. One hour later we were loading up her car with all their stuff and buckling Kayleigh and Brian in their car seats. These precious little children that I have only met 4 times in their 4 1/2 years will be gone again. I love them and want to get to know them better. Liane refers to me as Auntie Robin and Liane has always been Auntie Belle to Lillianna. (Lianabella was the nickname I gave Liane in junior high school and over the years it has become shortened to Belle. Coincidentally, Kayleigh's middle name is Isabelle so she is Kayleigh Belle!) I said good bye to the children and then Liane and I hugged each other. I cried my heart out. Through her tears, Liane said, "Maybe we could meet up one night before we leave just to talk." With my work schedule and her busy schedule saying goodbye I knew the chances of another meeting was not really a possibility. I don't know how we managed to say goodbye. She got in her car and Lillianna and I got into ours and I had her follow me out of our apartment complex and got her back on the main road. As I put on my right directional to pull into the supermarket, I waved to her to pass me. She beeped and I beeped back and waved one last good bye. My heart shattered into a million pieces.
As Lillianna and I walked in to the supermarket, I still had tears streaming down my face. I am going to miss them all so much.
Who do you miss that lives far away?
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