This weekend has been (to paraphrase Charles Dickens) both the best of times and the worst of times (okay, maybe the latter not to quite that degree). There have been some happy and wonderful moments, and there have been some harder moments too.
Seeing some of my granddaughters hugging Son#5 as if they were never going to let go was a hard moment.
Spending time together, breaking bread together was (for me) a happy moment.
DIL#5 said that our family was chaotic but hers crazy which seriously has me concerned about the genetic heritage of my latest grandchild when I see photos such as these ...
Yep, we tried once again to procure the perfect family photo and fell far short of the goal. These are the better ones (while obviously not perfect they probably still are a true representation of "us") ...
When Son#5 first told us he and his wife were planning on moving to America, I thought that my heart would break. I had known it was a possibility - I had just been praying that it wouldn't happen so soon, that we would have more time to get to know our latest DIL.
I also felt as if our family was being torn apart.
I now know that that isn't true. We will miss them terribly and we will have to get creative at staying in touch (and especially so in building a relationship with the newest family member when he/she arrives) but we will still be family.
It will look different. But we will still be family.
There will be a gap - especially at what are generally family get-togethers. But we will still be family.
There will be times when the pain will be so sharp that it will seem almost unbearable and times when it will be a dull ache in the background. But we will still be family.
Nothing - nothing - will ever change our love for them.
Meanwhile, we will have to decide on one of the photos to enlarge and put on our wall so that we will always be reminded that we are family. And to give visitors something to laugh at, too.
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