Long Distance Bubie and Grandpa

We can't begin to express how much we miss Wilken--and being with Elanor and Ryan. When we first got home after our two week visit I was obsessed with Wilken--saw him every time I closed my eyes, felt him on my shoulder, yearned to be with him. Now I understand why my mother cried every time she left Elanor and Nate, as much as it annoyed me and perplexed them. They never knew anything but a long-distance Bubie, and, while they missed her, they didn't expect to be near her all the time and thus were not filled with the tragic sense of loss she experienced each time they got on the plane to fly home. I am trying to accept that this will be the case for Wilken, though am so grateful that we are a mere 3-1/2 hours away instead of 1200 to 3000 miles in the case of my parents.
Truth be told, I bonded a bit much perhaps. During one of our first nights home, I woke up in a panic searching for Wilken in our bed. "Where's the baby?" I shouted. "In San Marcos," David replied calmly. Oh. Right. Another night I had a dream that he was on the bottom shelf of a cart with everyone else sitting on top, distracted with other things. "Yesss...I get to pick him up all by myself!" I said. Does having your child have a baby give you squatting rights? Perhaps. I think David feels similarly in some ways. He came home tonight and announced that he passed off a deposition to be sure to be free to go as early as possible this weekend (yea!) to see big and little kids, and that he will also be free the "whole week" that Elanor and Wilken are here in September. What joy. What excitement. Who knew...

-Written by Bubie on July 8, 2005