There’s only one bad part about my trips to Texas. No it’s not all the connecting flights. It’s not the fact that one flight lands at gate 2 and the connecting flight is at gate 47. No it’s not the price of food at the airports. It’s not even the time I missed my flight and had to sleep in the Dallas airport.
The worst part is saying goodbye to my grandson.
It hurts every time.
We try not to say goodbye, just “See you soon!” This time he’ll actually be coming to Massachusetts next month. We tried telling him that we’ll see him in 19 days but, to a 5-year-old, that can still seem like forever.
For those that don’t know, my daughter, son-in-law and grandson used to live in Virginia Beach and we used to visit every 4 or 5 weeks. I even went down to provide daycare for a few months but then Covid hit and I was there for a year-and-a-half. I established a special bond with my little buddy then and, honestly, it was one of the best things I ever did with my life.
Two years ago, my son-in-law got stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas with the Navy. The visits don’t come as often.
We FaceTime just about every day, but nothing compares to an actual Liam hug or story time with his head on my shoulder.
I do realize how blessed I am that I get to visit him about every six months.
Last year I started to spend three weeks there in March to get away from the cold and gray New England late winter/early spring. The weather in South Texas is beautiful. Upper 50s at night but in the 80s by noon.
I’m also blessed that my son-in-law is a great guy who doesn’t seem to mind his father-in-law staying at his house for three weeks. If he does mind he hides it real well.
We had so much fun on this trip and it got even better when Grammy joined us for the final week. There was plenty of play time, story time and general silliness. Check that, lots of silliness.
My daughter wants us to move to Texas. We keep telling her that wouldn’t be fair to the kids up north plus our lives have been in southern New England for over sixty years. Our friends are here, our church is here and we love our house looking out to Buzzards Bay.
Seriously, could you see me living in Texas? I’d have to cheer for the Astros in the summer and the Houston Texans in the fall. I’d have to drive my dog Charlie 2,045 miles from Fairhaven to Texas because I don’t think he’d like flying in a small carrying case. And can you imagine how much weight I’d gain if I had easy access to Brisket and Ribs every week?
She even picked out a place for us to live. I guess she’s pretty serious about this.
Sorry Sarah. We’ll visit again in September.
Until then I say, “See you soon!” However, those departures at the airport never get any easier.
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