I haven't written in a couple of days - my apologies. Sometimes life gets in the way. There have been a few interesting events that have happened, and a lot of monotony in between.
Thursday evening I attended a retirement dinner for my godmother, Susan. She and my mother were very close before I was born, and after my little sister was born, their relationship became estranged and they lost touch. Within the last few years they have managed to settle their differences and are re-building what they used to have. Personally, I don't think it's a great idea, and I've expressed this to my mother, but she is older and wiser than I, so instead I will let her do what she chooses. While at the dinner I started thinking about her three children that I was very close with when I was little, her son Glenn-Michael, her daughter Jen (whom we call Jenny), and her step-daughter Nikki. Nikki and I are close in age, so we got along as friends a lot more than with the older children. She arrived first, and we clicked from the instant we hugged hello. She and I are both education majors, so we talked about teaching and clothes. Susan arrived shortly after, who was elated to see both my mother and I when she greeted our table. Jenny came in next, clearly pregnant and glowing. She was just as surprised to see me as I was her. I missed her smile and her constant joking; I always had fun when she babysat. Glenn-Michael's wife Heidi came with her daughter Jordan, but no one was surprised when he didn't show up with them. They had been having marital problems, on top of his explosive temper and drinking habit. In the middle of dinner hour, though, Glenn-Michael made his entrance, and our connection was very odd.
My mother approached him first, after he picked up his daughter, and said a quick hello. When she stepped back, there he was, exactly as I had remembered him, only now his skin was darker and his face looked worn out, as if he'd been through so much. We hugged, he smiled, and then said "I haven't seen you since you were her age," pointing to Jordan. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?" I remarked back, and we both laughed. We made small talk, and then got back to our seats before the speeches began. In the middle of a particularly obnoxious "We'll miss you!" moment, I looked at his table to find him glancing in my direction,
Thursday evening I attended a retirement dinner for my godmother, Susan. She and my mother were very close before I was born, and after my little sister was born, their relationship became estranged and they lost touch. Within the last few years they have managed to settle their differences and are re-building what they used to have. Personally, I don't think it's a great idea, and I've expressed this to my mother, but she is older and wiser than I, so instead I will let her do what she chooses. While at the dinner I started thinking about her three children that I was very close with when I was little, her son Glenn-Michael, her daughter Jen (whom we call Jenny), and her step-daughter Nikki. Nikki and I are close in age, so we got along as friends a lot more than with the older children. She arrived first, and we clicked from the instant we hugged hello. She and I are both education majors, so we talked about teaching and clothes. Susan arrived shortly after, who was elated to see both my mother and I when she greeted our table. Jenny came in next, clearly pregnant and glowing. She was just as surprised to see me as I was her. I missed her smile and her constant joking; I always had fun when she babysat. Glenn-Michael's wife Heidi came with her daughter Jordan, but no one was surprised when he didn't show up with them. They had been having marital problems, on top of his explosive temper and drinking habit. In the middle of dinner hour, though, Glenn-Michael made his entrance, and our connection was very odd.
My mother approached him first, after he picked up his daughter, and said a quick hello. When she stepped back, there he was, exactly as I had remembered him, only now his skin was darker and his face looked worn out, as if he'd been through so much. We hugged, he smiled, and then said "I haven't seen you since you were her age," pointing to Jordan. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?" I remarked back, and we both laughed. We made small talk, and then got back to our seats before the speeches began. In the middle of a particularly obnoxious "We'll miss you!" moment, I looked at his table to find him glancing in my direction,
