I had the privilege of traveling to Louisiana with my husband and son to visit my extended family in Louisiana. We were just north of Lafayette in a town called Opelousas. Mom and Dad's parents are both there. I also have a few aunts, uncles and cousins there as well as in surrounding areas. There's plenty of people to see when we go there and not as much time as I would like. It's been quite and adjustment living 7 and 1/2 hours away as opposed to 4, when I lived in The Woodlands.
It was a fabulous week for me. Zachary also had a good time. Scott did as well and was able to go golfing with my Uncle Mark and cousin Blaise. I'm glad he's getting to know my family better.
There's many upsides to living in San Antonio. Scott has a great job, the schools seem to be pretty good with lots of opportunity, there's not too many hurricanes here, it's always sunny, I have some great friends here, we're close to Temple, Austin, Fredericksburg, College Station, and not too far from Corpus Christi (yay beach). We got a lot of entertaining things to do here and of course one of my favorite things...we're ten minutes from Sea World.
On the other hand there's lots of times when I wish I could drop by my grandparents house for a few minutes just to say hi, see my cousin's activities and games, go to more family events, co-lead sessions with my aunt who is a speech/language pathologist, attend some good old cajun dancing, and be back for Christmas (even though Scott's family is fun too). Stuff like that. I have a really difficult time leaving after visits.
On the way home from Thanksgiving at my Uncle Carl's house I was letting my emotions get to me. I was upset about being far, about us cousins not being as close anymore, my mom's parents seeming less active, and differences in opinion over various topics among the family. Just a lot of stuff at once. Scott gave me words of comfort as he drove us back to the house we were staying at. It's funny though, how kids know things sometime. Like they have some form of ESP. I was sitting next to Zachary in his car seat. He was quiet and during my moments of being upset he grabbed my hand and held it for the rest of the car ride. He may have just wanted to hold my hand, but I like to think that he was comforting me.
I do try to look at the positive things about living here and the things I CAN do to stay connected with my family. Thank God for technology and USPS.
