The process of aging, and the relationship changes that surround it, are a very peculiar thing. Now that I’m older, have a full-time job, and am working on leaving the country by myself for an extended period of time, suddenly it has become a lot less important for me to go on vacation with the rest of the family. What I’m trying to say is, I have a large house and two dogs to myself for a little over a week while Dad, Mom and Ruth drive around the country visiting people.
Why’d I get left behind? My leaving the country was really the clincher; originally we thought I’d be leaving before or during the vacation, so it wasn’t even possible for me to go. However, even though the date for me to leave was postponed until after the family returns, the project is still going on in the States, and it’s particularly important for me to be here right before I get separated from the rest of the team by an ocean.
In some ways I’m sad, mostly due to the fact that I know life will be changing significantly in the next few years as all of us kids get older, and I’d like to cherish the available time with my family now, while I can. Also, it would’ve been fun to take a week off, do some driving, and get a lot of reading done between stops.
However, since I just got back on the job, the need for a vacation is not pressing too hard, and working in the UK is going to be close enough to a vacation to dampen any residual disappointment. Also, for some reason my parents decided to make this a killer trip, meaning they’re only spending about one night in any one place, bouncing around from relative to friend to relative, and covering an awful lot of miles in just a week and a half.
In the end, it’s basically a wash; I’m not shedding any tears about missing it, but I’m not glad to be absent, either. The biggest bummer to me is making my commute home in the evenings to only be greeted by a couple of canines. They might be cute, but they’re not much for company. So I’m looking forward to the return of my family, and hoping they have a fun, memorable, safe trip.