Back Home Again

I returned from my long trip late yesterday afternoon, exhausted and glad to be home. The trip to Michigan was wonderful, and the birthday party for my mother was great. Everyone had a nice time, especially Mother who enjoyed visiting with children, grand children, great-grandchildren, other assorted relatives and friends.

One of the highlights of the party was a bag of old photographs my cousin brought. She and mother had a good time going through pictures and remembering. Later, some of the rest of us got to see the pictures, too. There were a number of pictures of my mother and her sister when they were young, as well as some shots of her parents and grandparents. They were cool to see.

It is always so nice to connect to the past that way, and sometimes I don't think we do enough of that. Or if we do, it is by dredging up past hurts and problems.

My sister and I tried to avoid that while I was there. We did spend some time reminiscing about our childhood while the three of us were sketching one day, and Mother commented that Nita and I were only talking about the good things. I don't think either one of us made a conscious decision to do that, and we certainly don't do it all the time, but it was healthy I think to focus on the pleasant memories.

At least it sure felt good to me.