State of our Union Address

At this point I feel like it's appropriate to just stop for a minute and assess the "state of our union."  As of today we have been living together for four and a half months, and I am happy to report that we are doing well.  I was a little bit afraid that moving would be hard on my dad and that we might see a steep decline with the stress of moving and adjusting to a whole new environment.  So far he has done really well.  He has worked hard at learning his way around a new city and figuring out bike paths and where he can ride his bike.  We are all figuring out the new grocery stores and finding the close by library and swimming pool.


**My dad even directed me through the back roads to the DMV, and took me right there.  Oh, the irony.  We were upgrading his licence for an ID card, and he now has the official honor of being chauffeured anywhere he wants to go.  He proudly directed me right where to go, and then turned to me and said with a smile, "Well, what do you know?  Some of my neuro-pathways are connecting just fine!" **


I think that we are entering what I had anticipated as being the "not-so-hard" season of living together.  In fact, I think we are having fun. It's all an adjustment, but a happy new "normal."


 A couple weeks ago we went on a family bike ride.  All seven of us.  Bike riding is one of my dad's favorite things to do and it was Grandparents Day, and it was sunny, but not unbearably hot.  We loaded up seven bikes and seven people and we made our way to the bike trail that runs along the Columbia River near the airport.  Grandpa couldn't go as far as he usually does but one of our younger participants was peddling her heart out with her training wheels and we were able to keep a pace and a length of time that worked well for everyone.


It feels good to do the things that we can do together, while we are able.


Have you ever rocked your babies for a just a little longer... or read just one more story than you really intended to, because you knew the days were fleeting? Little moments… a silly dance in the kitchen.  a wholehearted laugh.  Eskimo kisses. Little moments that a camera couldn’t really capture but you still try to tuck them away into the memory of your heart?


That's where we are right now, having a lot of days that are worth savoring.