Missing...

This week, especially today, I've been really missing all the people I love. I think it's because my mom and dad have been gone for a few days... and it felt like forever. Made me emotional... or more so than I am in general. I think God made me with extra doses of tears...

I've been missing my cousins in Arizona. I think the most fun I've had in life has been with those cousins. They always are good for a laugh and a hug. They always get my jokes. I can always be me around them, and they love me anyway. I haven't see any of them in a long time. I really want a squishy hug from Bridget, and to hear Mary laugh. Why does family have to live so far away. Why can't everybody I love just come and live on a cul-de-sac with me. We can rotate where we have dinner, and only have to cook on certain days. Oh what fun we could have! I know that might sound just awful to some people, but there are days when I can't imagine anything more wonderful than that in this world


.

(just a few of my dear cousins)

I also miss my dear kindred spirits. They warm me and cheer me and brighten my days. What good friends God has given me. I just wish I could spend an afternoon chatting in the very same room as my dear ones. That would be just loverly.

(just a few of my kindreds)

But mostly, I've been missing the most wonderful man I have ever know. Every time I came to see him, he'd greet me with a "Hello, Miss beautiful." Every time I said goodbye, He'd say "I love you more." We would sit around the kitchen table and talk about all of the things I could do someday. He believed I could be anything I wanted to be. When he would really laugh, his shoulders would shake, and his eyes would twinkle, and those beautiful laugh lines around his eyes would scrunch up. Sometimes he cried with laughter. All of his children can laugh like that. If I could pick one McFadden gene to have, it would be to laugh like my Poppop and his kids. It's one of my favorite things in the world when they laugh like that.


I don't know if distance really makes the heart grow fonder, but it does make you more appreciative of the time you get with the people you love.
Consider this your warning, loved ones. I might just not let go next time I see you.