Georgia On My Mind

I'm back home from my trip back home! (How's that for confusing?!) I returned from Georgia at noon today, and Katie and Dan were there to greet me at the airport. Katie ran to my arms, and I hope she saw the joy and exaltation in my face. I missed my three loves! Absence does...

But I had a good trip to Georgia too. My high school friend/bridesmaid Sarah picked me up from the airport Friday night, and we grabbed dinner so we could catch up on our lives. I love that we fall so easily back into our friendship, after talking less than once a month and seeing each other about once every three years. I like talking to her because she knows my history and the person I used to be, but also encourages and likes the person I've become. That's a good type of friend to have.

After dinner, Sarah drove me to my sister's in-laws' house, where we were staying for the weekend. When Mom was sick in 2004, the sister's in-laws' house became a second home to me. They let me stay with them for a good two or three weeks, and were gracious in letting me come and go as needed, on trips to and from the hospital. I really enjoyed getting to know them that summer, and kind of think of them as my additional family. And this weekend was no exception. Celia (my sister's mother-in-law) said I could adopt them as my Georgia family now. Isn't that sweet? But now I have to figure out what to call them. My sister's in-laws really is too confusing.

So I arrived at my "Georgia family's house" and my sister and nieces were already there too. We hugged and then stayed up until about 1am late talking and catching up. I crashed in bed that night, happy to be back home and with my sister again.

Saturday, we slept in a bit and then had pancakes for breakfast... which I didn't have to cook. Ah, the luxury! After breakfast, we sat around the kitchen table trying to change ringtones on about four different phones (ABBA for Celia, Beatles for Dick... although we could never find the one song he wanted). Then showers and then Mary and I split offf from the group for two hours to go visit our high school.

Aack! Words cannot express how old that made me feel. We were lucky enough to get inside and see a basketball game in the "old" gym. (Honestly, that's what the label above the door said! Apparently, they have built a new gym now too.) The flashbacks were disconcerting, and then we headed down to the cafeteria. Aack again! Unfortunately, the rest of the school doors were locked so we couldn't get a full trip down memory lane. However, we pressed our faces up against lots of windows so we could peek inside. When did the hallways and lockers shrink? Because I remember the school being MUCH bigger back in the nineties!

As if the high school wasn't enough to stretch my brain, we headed to our old neighborhood next. Let me paint the picture: the last time I saw my house was in February 2005, five months after Mom died and five days before Dad died. This photo was taken that day. The house had been "flipped" - it was in bad shape when we sold it after Mom's death, and a realtor bought it and rehabbed it before selling it again and making a profit. We saw it before the realtor sold it to its current owners. So I had seen some of the (huge!) changes back in 2005. But this is the first time I'd actually seen anyone living in "my" house. We had already contacted the owners and asked if we could come over, so it's not like we did a sneak attack.

Here's the house in 1996, on the day of my brother's funeral (which is why the flag is at half staff):

Here's the house this weekend:

My tears started flowing when we pulled into the driveway, and I kept telling myself to get a grip. We knocked on the door, and Joe and Wendy invited us inside and introduced us to their 3- and 7-year-old sons. I apologized for crying, and then that was the end of the tears. Because, truthfully? Once I got inside, there were so many changes in the house that I could hardly recognize it for what it used to be. And I was truly happy to see it so beautiful again and to know that it was loved and new memories were being made inside those walls. We got the grand tour of the house (which was immaculately clean and made me feel guilty that Wendy went to so much trouble for us), and saw every nook and cranny. How cool is that? I mean, would you allow perfect strangers in your home and let them see even the innards of your closets? And yet, they did. More than I could have ever hoped for. We chatted with them for a while, and got to see how their lives (and especially their kids' lives) are mirroring our own: the same schools, same neighbors, same activities that we did as kids. For some reason, that brought lots of peace to my heart. Finally, we took some photos (of course I did) and said goodbye because we had to meet the in-laws.

Here's Mary and I on the steps:

Here's my old bedroom, from 2004:

Here's my bedroom now (adorable!):

We met up with them and headed up to Cartersville GA to check out the brand new Tellus Science Museum. It was pretty cool to see all the new exhibits like dinosaur replicas, old cars and planes, geodes, minerals, and we even got to dig for fossils. This is Mary's face distorted in one of those magnifying glass panels.

There was even a cool pendulum in the lobby, and I tried to get an artsy photo (a la Jodie). Not sure I succeeded at that.

After the museum, we went to Mary's brother-in-law's house for a great steak dinner and good conversation. (Funny side note: Mary's brother-in-law also married a Mary, so it gets a bit confusing around them, especially since the Marys now have the same last name.) The kids put on a show for us after dinner, and we got to hear Dick's gift-giving theory after watching the Beware of the Doghouse video on YouTube. (I should post the video I took of him explaining it on YouTube, but I'll spare him the embarrassment.) Afterwards, we drove home and headed off to bed.

Sunday, we went to Dick and Celia's church. It's also the home church of my high school friend Kelley, although she's off at school in California so I didn't get to see her. (Although I did surprise the heck out of her mom when I tapped her on the shoulder!) After church, we went back to the in-laws' house for lunch, followed by an excruciating FIVE HOURS of computer searches for their summer beach house rental. Seriously. They got out three laptops and searched all these websites for beach houses, yelling out to each other the features of each house. It was the epitome of family craziness, but made me smile nonetheless. (Although I left about three hours into it because I need a craziness break.) They ended their search in a family laptop huddle, and finally narrowed it down to two choices.

The girls headed out to Target afterwards, then a late dinner at Chili's before heading home to read in bed. Ah... so nice. I got to just sit and read for an hour and a half. Heaven. (Not to mention the three nights of uninterrupted sleep. Woo hoo!)

This morning, we were up early to get my favorite Chick-fil-A for breakfast on the way to the airport. Hugs all around, then I was kicked to the curb (just kidding, Mary) and my family visit was over. So sad. But I'm proud of myself too - I didn't even cry! (Which is different than previous goodbyes.) I made my way to the gate, then sat myself down and read a book until it was boarding time. I even finished the book and started a new one on the plane. (A new one called The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan that I can already tell is going to be an all-time favorite for me. Thanks for sending me this YouTube "Transcending" link, Marti!)

And then my flight landed, and I greeted two of my loves, and almost all was right with the world. It was all back in line when I picked Jackson up from Parents Day Out at 4pm. Everyone survived the weekend without me, even though Dan said he needed to plan more activities to keep the kids busy next time I go away. Dan is a champ. A great dad. He's still "on duty" even now, feeding the kids dinner while I blog.

The weekend was just what I needed to refill my tank. I got to see flashbacks of the life I used to lead, back when I was someone's child and before I had to take responsibility for my own. I have to admit that parts of the weekend did make me a little sad, and it made me wish for things that I can no longer have back (my parents, my hometown, my carefree years). Most of all, it made me long for the day when I can take my kids to visit. But I also know that in the same moment when I long for the things I can no longer have, I thank God for the things I do have: Dan, Katie and Jackson. I can't have my past and my present at the same time, can I? Time moves on, people and landscapes change, and I've learned to look forward. Doesn't mean I don't miss the past, but I don't live there anymore. Literally and figuratively, of course.

It was good trip. No, it was great. I'm at peace, content, and happy to be back home.