The Trip Home, Part I
I’m finally back from a whirlwind few days of travel. Wifey, B-Man and I headed back to Pittsburgh to be with family and say goodbye to Wifey’s grandmother. A long trip for a funeral is something that no one ever wants to do, nor is introducing your ten-year old son to the grieving process, but both are part of life.
Despite the sadness surrounding the trip, it was nice to be there for Wifey, my father-in law, and his family. B-Man was of course sad to lose his great-grandmother but was extremely brave, polite and caring throughout the two days. Wifey and I are very proud of him.
Seeing Wifey’s grandfather say goodbye to his wife of seventy years (SEVENTY!!) was the saddest part of all. I never had a chance to meet either of my grandfathers, but the limited time I have been around him is a treat and always has me wishing that I had the chance to be around him more or would have met him long before I ever did. It’s hard to think of what he is going through after such a long marriage and helping (along with my father in-law and his siblings) care for his late wife as her health declined over last few years. I can only imagine that it’s very similar to what my father went through after several years of caring for my mother as she dealt with crippling Multiple Sclerosis before passing away in 1999.
While I may have never met my grandfathers, having men in my life like Wifey’s grandfather, my father and my father in-law has been a blessing. I can only hope that I live up to the high standard they have set for being a husband and father. I also hope that none of them ever read this blog or my Twitter feed and see what a moron I can be!
The Trip Home, Part II
Enough sadness and the heavy part of real life!
Somehow, in the midst of our whirlwind trip, we managed to stop by the car dealer where my 2009 xB died during Wifey’s last trip home and swap it out for another xB (a creature of habit I seem to be… well that and the price was swell). This time a low mile 2012 version in Elusive Blue Metallic (at least my bike rack fits it). This along with updating Wifey’s car to a safer, more dependable ride last week had us go from no car payments to two in about a week. Ug!
Now back home, it’s time to try to resume my normal schedule of job searching, riding, gym going, sophomoric humor, blogging and general mischief*. It will also be cool to get back to some semblance of a nutritional diet. Three days of travel and emotional eating has left my belly a little bouncier than normal and my legs feeling heavy and bloated. Then again, there’s nothing new about that.
Photo: by me during a recent dirt road ride.
Later.
*Note: When I was in high school I once got a detention for “general mischief.” I still don’t know what I did, but I am sure I deserved it. God, I was a horrible student.