Back home in Indiana

Last week I took a break and headed to Indiana with my girls.  We went home to enjoy two family reunions and time with my parents and sisters.  It was a special week since my family is rarely all together.

Going home is always an odd experience for me.  Indiana is home but I still feel like a visitor in someone else’s house.  I love going to Indiana to see family, eat at favorite places and just be happy.  I feel like my younger self, free of mortgages and work deadlines.  It is comforting there.  When I go back it feels like a big embrace…warm and loving.

I adore being around my family.  Time with them means fun, an ease you acquire from being around people who know your entire history and story.  It also means extra help with the girls.  I know I take advantage of my family when I am with them, but it is so nice to have people to lean on.  If I am totally honest, I think my girls prefer them to me anyway.  It is a special treat for grandma to read stories or for grandpa to play.  For me, it is a welcome reprieve from what is my daily grind of motherhood and balancing life with my two little tornados of energy.

This trip home had me very nostalgic.  Not only did we go to two reunions, catch up and re-tell old stories, but I also saw my girls reliving moments of my childhood.

During our visit, the girls did so many things I loved as a kid.  They took out-of-control rides with grandpa.  The bucking bronco that is my dad doesn’t move as nimbly as I remember, but the effect is still the same…lots of laughter.  They had tea parties with grandma and used the same tea sets I did.  We gathered around a fire for S’mores.  (Raya dived into those with gusto.)  There were so many moments where I got to see my childhood from a different perspective.  Tractor rides, art projects, the beloved “Cowboy Ride” and so many others reminded me how much I truly loved my childhood.  They also all made me want to be a kid again.   I only hope my children cherish the memories as much as I do.

Family time is so precious.  To be able to go home for a week and just be was a special blessing.  In today’s world, we rush around too much.  We consider ourselves “connected” to our loved ones if we get a text or a Facebook message from them regularly.  This high-tech and hectic world has eroded a lot of what is sacred about family time and made it more about being productive.  I am glad I had this little reminder to take a step back and put the electronics aside (except the camera that captured so many wonderful moments).  I am also glad I have such a great family and that we are truly connected in all the right ways.

My family…minus my husband who had to stay in Tennessee for work:

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