Visiting home
Just got back from a visit to my home and my family in Minnesota. My brother got married, so I made the trip. The wedding was lovely, with a harpist doing walk-in music and a song during the ceremony. The officiant started things off by intoning "Mawwiage! It's what bwings us togethew" and enough people got the joke that it was hilarious. I got some candid shots of the wedding party and a lot during the ceremony, including the shot where he first saw his bride enter the garden. My cousin and her husband came down to celebrate, which was awesome. I don't see them often enough.
Did some shopping with mom. Went to GermanFest at a German brewery and enjoyed the wiener dog races.
Made a trip up North to my grandparents' house, which is empty and my uncle is fixing it up to sell. Wanted to see it one last time, wanted to see what progress he'd made. It was kind of bittersweet. Really nice to be able to see it again, and am flooded with memories. The candy dish that always lived in the drawer in the kitchen, to which we were rarely restricted access. The island in the kitchen that always held a coffeepot. The stove. Grama loved to cook. The kitchen where I learned to drink coffee. The sauna that I spent many years loving. The bedrooms where I slept. The basement, where there should have been a wringer-type wash machine and a modern dryer as well as a modern wash machine, which she didn't always use. Grama often used the wringer one. The walls, which still held shelves, in the basement, which had always had home-canned fruits and vegetables. And it's all empty now.
I'm not sure a person should go back to a house they've loved after it's empty. Or when new people live there, maybe. We drove past another house where we had lived when I was very young, but that didn't hurt much since I don't really remember it much. A bit. It looks like it's cared for and I hope the people are happy there.
The trip ended with a family dinner, both my brothers, both their wives, and that was nice. Really nice. Up north, I got a chance to chat with my aunt, and for a few minutes, one of my uncles. Would have been nice to see the other two, but we were squeezed for time as it was, and it wasn't gonna happen. My aunt isn't often one for long conversations, so I was surprised how long she sat with us.
So I saw almost all of my little family. Not sure how many times I'll be able to say that in the future: I don't see much chance of getting together with my uncles in the future. My grandparents were the linchpin of that part of the family- they held the family together. We got together for all the holidays, and now we don't. They all have their own lives, and if we go visit, we seem to be an encumbrance in some ways.
Did some shopping with mom. Went to GermanFest at a German brewery and enjoyed the wiener dog races.
Made a trip up North to my grandparents' house, which is empty and my uncle is fixing it up to sell. Wanted to see it one last time, wanted to see what progress he'd made. It was kind of bittersweet. Really nice to be able to see it again, and am flooded with memories. The candy dish that always lived in the drawer in the kitchen, to which we were rarely restricted access. The island in the kitchen that always held a coffeepot. The stove. Grama loved to cook. The kitchen where I learned to drink coffee. The sauna that I spent many years loving. The bedrooms where I slept. The basement, where there should have been a wringer-type wash machine and a modern dryer as well as a modern wash machine, which she didn't always use. Grama often used the wringer one. The walls, which still held shelves, in the basement, which had always had home-canned fruits and vegetables. And it's all empty now.
I'm not sure a person should go back to a house they've loved after it's empty. Or when new people live there, maybe. We drove past another house where we had lived when I was very young, but that didn't hurt much since I don't really remember it much. A bit. It looks like it's cared for and I hope the people are happy there.
The trip ended with a family dinner, both my brothers, both their wives, and that was nice. Really nice. Up north, I got a chance to chat with my aunt, and for a few minutes, one of my uncles. Would have been nice to see the other two, but we were squeezed for time as it was, and it wasn't gonna happen. My aunt isn't often one for long conversations, so I was surprised how long she sat with us.
So I saw almost all of my little family. Not sure how many times I'll be able to say that in the future: I don't see much chance of getting together with my uncles in the future. My grandparents were the linchpin of that part of the family- they held the family together. We got together for all the holidays, and now we don't. They all have their own lives, and if we go visit, we seem to be an encumbrance in some ways.