Family Summer
D's on the road heading south this morning to pick up Genuine and Beautiful Drummer Girl for the summer. YIPPEE!! When she gets here then all five of us will be here together for the next couple of months. That will be so great. I'm really looking forward to it.
Young Man with Integrity graduated in May and is in a 'holding pattern' for a while this summer, waiting to hear from law schools in D.C. If that doesn't pan out this year, he's considering moving to D.C. anyway to look for work toward the end of this summer. Whatever happens, we expect he'll be moving out soon to be on his own. Wow. That will be a big change--for all of us. When I married D, Young Man with Integrity had been living in a dorm, but he moved back home about that same time, so he's been part of my married home life all along. I'll miss him when he moves.
Lovely Passionate Feminist finished her first year of college dorm life last month. She loved it. It's been an amazing thing to see her grow up so fast, and so well. She moved back here for the summer about three weeks ago and immediately got a great job at a local movie theater. She loves that, too! She's out early in the morning for her summer-school Spanish class, then she works most evenings. Yesterday I got home mid-afternoon and Boyfriend was here...with both of them working they haven't seen much of each other, so it was great to see his truck in the driveway when I pulled up.
Genuine and Beautiful Drummer Girl finished her junior year in h.s. last week, but was at a church youth camp until yesterday evening. D spent last weekend getting her new (to her) computer set up in her room. The screensaver is a photograph of her celebrating her first birthday--cake and ice cream from her chin to her eyebrows. Seriously cute. And he set the computer up with I-Tunes and all of the games she likes and the whole bit. We think she'll like the set up. I hope her summer up here will be good...she's the only one without a car or a job. But she'll do a week at Band Camp, we bought tickets for Spam-a-Lot, she's going to invite her friends up for a day at Six Flags, and we're taking a week-long trip to the Southeast to visit her grandparents, so hopefully she won't get too terribly bored.
D had been divorced for over 12 years when we met, so I didn't have to be concerned with any of the children resenting me for taking their mother's place. Young Man with Integrity was the only one with significant memories of their parents being together--I think he was seven when the divorce happened. Lovely Passionate Feminist was three, and Genuine and Beautiful Drummer Girl was not quite one year old. I feel very fortunate that they have accepted me and allowed me to love them so easily. My life has been unbelievably enriched because of them.
All three children love to read. All have been involved in extracurricular activities throughout their schoolyears--band, choir, acting, political activist groups, etc. They're all interested in world affairs and can easily express their opinions on religion and politics. They've all managed to negotiate their way through the narrow-minded Southern religious/political culture that surrounds us--not unscathed, I'm sure, but all three have managed to end up able to think for themselves. They can actually see the problem with the status quo, and it is such a JOY to me to hear them express their outrage and their desire for this world to be different and better than it is. When I hear them, it gives me such hope.
Five years ago the need in me for the kind of connections--these deep relational ties--that I now have was a source of continual, if underlying, pain. That pain is no longer there, and I am so very grateful.
Young Man with Integrity graduated in May and is in a 'holding pattern' for a while this summer, waiting to hear from law schools in D.C. If that doesn't pan out this year, he's considering moving to D.C. anyway to look for work toward the end of this summer. Whatever happens, we expect he'll be moving out soon to be on his own. Wow. That will be a big change--for all of us. When I married D, Young Man with Integrity had been living in a dorm, but he moved back home about that same time, so he's been part of my married home life all along. I'll miss him when he moves.
Lovely Passionate Feminist finished her first year of college dorm life last month. She loved it. It's been an amazing thing to see her grow up so fast, and so well. She moved back here for the summer about three weeks ago and immediately got a great job at a local movie theater. She loves that, too! She's out early in the morning for her summer-school Spanish class, then she works most evenings. Yesterday I got home mid-afternoon and Boyfriend was here...with both of them working they haven't seen much of each other, so it was great to see his truck in the driveway when I pulled up.
Genuine and Beautiful Drummer Girl finished her junior year in h.s. last week, but was at a church youth camp until yesterday evening. D spent last weekend getting her new (to her) computer set up in her room. The screensaver is a photograph of her celebrating her first birthday--cake and ice cream from her chin to her eyebrows. Seriously cute. And he set the computer up with I-Tunes and all of the games she likes and the whole bit. We think she'll like the set up. I hope her summer up here will be good...she's the only one without a car or a job. But she'll do a week at Band Camp, we bought tickets for Spam-a-Lot, she's going to invite her friends up for a day at Six Flags, and we're taking a week-long trip to the Southeast to visit her grandparents, so hopefully she won't get too terribly bored.
D had been divorced for over 12 years when we met, so I didn't have to be concerned with any of the children resenting me for taking their mother's place. Young Man with Integrity was the only one with significant memories of their parents being together--I think he was seven when the divorce happened. Lovely Passionate Feminist was three, and Genuine and Beautiful Drummer Girl was not quite one year old. I feel very fortunate that they have accepted me and allowed me to love them so easily. My life has been unbelievably enriched because of them.
All three children love to read. All have been involved in extracurricular activities throughout their schoolyears--band, choir, acting, political activist groups, etc. They're all interested in world affairs and can easily express their opinions on religion and politics. They've all managed to negotiate their way through the narrow-minded Southern religious/political culture that surrounds us--not unscathed, I'm sure, but all three have managed to end up able to think for themselves. They can actually see the problem with the status quo, and it is such a JOY to me to hear them express their outrage and their desire for this world to be different and better than it is. When I hear them, it gives me such hope.
Five years ago the need in me for the kind of connections--these deep relational ties--that I now have was a source of continual, if underlying, pain. That pain is no longer there, and I am so very grateful.
Comments
I'm always amazed at our prayers and wishes, which God answers abundantly in unforseen ways! We too often box God in, while God surpasses our very imaginings!
I just wanted to feel the rush of leaving my first comment on a blog, and to also let you know that I'm so excited to be up here for the summer. I'm fairly certain that you won't have to worry about me getting bored this summer, at least not with all that we'll being doing this summer and the company that I get to spend my time with. I love you!
And you must be back at work...posting seems to have slown a little! ;-) If so, I hope that means you're feeling better.
Love you, too, Genuine and Beautiful Drummer Girl!
Jan and Linda, thanks for commenting. Yes, I'm feeling better, slowly but surely.