Return of the Prodigal Son
The trip home to see the unhusband's family was an adventure. Getting up at 2 in the morning to get on the road by 3 so we could catch a flight out of Austin was not fun. I do have this to say, The Austin airport shuttle service is awesome.
When we landed in Virginia, Unhusband's baby sister was there to pick us up. She and the oldest sister were the only ones who knew we were coming. If we had mentioned it to the middle sister, everyone would have known and we wanted it to be a surprise. As expected, there were lots of tears for his return. He's one of the few to ever leave this town. I think that all the attention heaped on him made one of his sister's jealousy rise up. Unhusband and the oldest sister have had a tumultuous relationship for years. Frequently, they wouldn't talk to each other because of this or that. This trip, though, they both sat down and worked out some of their issues. She seems to have gotten some of her act together.
As for the step mom and dad units, financially, things are good. I wish I could say the same about their health. Both have been diagnosed with diabetes. Both are not exercising. Both have other health issues which need to be dealt with but are refusing to deal with them for whatever the reason. Dad is definitely not looking good and I imagine that we will be heading back out again in the next few years for his funeral.
Then there was the fun of dealing with the extended family... ::rolling eyes:: At one point, there were 23 people in a house which is smaller than my downstairs. Aunts and Uncles came out to see the prodigal son. With them came their children and significant others. Then, as everyone was getting slightly schnockered, the stories started to flow. We learned that unhusband's mom's mother was a local pianist and famous at least locally.
While we were there, the unhusband went back to his High School to see his favorite teacher. Debbie encouraged him to enter the military and the language program. She has two students who are interested in the program now, so she invited Micheal to talk to them about it. Neither of these kids can afford college at this moment and are seriously thinking about it. I thought we were going to spend about an hour there, we ended up sitting around and bsing with everyone until well after the school day had ended.
All in all, it was a good trip. Unhusband got to surprise his parents which was priceless. We got to spoil our soon to be nephew with new clothes. Issues were resolved.
When we landed in Virginia, Unhusband's baby sister was there to pick us up. She and the oldest sister were the only ones who knew we were coming. If we had mentioned it to the middle sister, everyone would have known and we wanted it to be a surprise. As expected, there were lots of tears for his return. He's one of the few to ever leave this town. I think that all the attention heaped on him made one of his sister's jealousy rise up. Unhusband and the oldest sister have had a tumultuous relationship for years. Frequently, they wouldn't talk to each other because of this or that. This trip, though, they both sat down and worked out some of their issues. She seems to have gotten some of her act together.
As for the step mom and dad units, financially, things are good. I wish I could say the same about their health. Both have been diagnosed with diabetes. Both are not exercising. Both have other health issues which need to be dealt with but are refusing to deal with them for whatever the reason. Dad is definitely not looking good and I imagine that we will be heading back out again in the next few years for his funeral.
Then there was the fun of dealing with the extended family... ::rolling eyes:: At one point, there were 23 people in a house which is smaller than my downstairs. Aunts and Uncles came out to see the prodigal son. With them came their children and significant others. Then, as everyone was getting slightly schnockered, the stories started to flow. We learned that unhusband's mom's mother was a local pianist and famous at least locally.
While we were there, the unhusband went back to his High School to see his favorite teacher. Debbie encouraged him to enter the military and the language program. She has two students who are interested in the program now, so she invited Micheal to talk to them about it. Neither of these kids can afford college at this moment and are seriously thinking about it. I thought we were going to spend about an hour there, we ended up sitting around and bsing with everyone until well after the school day had ended.
All in all, it was a good trip. Unhusband got to surprise his parents which was priceless. We got to spoil our soon to be nephew with new clothes. Issues were resolved.