what it takes...

Last night I went to memorial service for my great aunt Bernice who died this week. It was a small affair held at her daughter Deb's house and it was really quite lovely. I have such wonderful memories of Bernice and her late husband, Willy, including my brother and me in their adventures with their grandchildren to Disneyland, numerous pizza parlors (does anyone ever call them that anymore?), and parks, and though I didn't see much of her in recent years, I'll miss her.

But the thing about memorials that is really nice, and it feels sort of shitty to say this, but it is true, is that we get to see family we haven't seen for a long time. I saw relatives I haven't seen since I was about Samuel's age, and it makes me so terribly sad that we all get so busy, so caught up in our lives, that it's too hard to get together. And it's true about being busy... We are all so legitimately overwhelmed. And there are a significant numbers of miles between us. But somehow it feels important, and somewhat grounding, to be around people you grew up with--to be around family in whatever configuration that looks like.

I'm determined to make the effort and not wait for bad news to bring about a reunion.

Hey, I'm going to visit Princess Mikkimoto! (Does it count toward the resolution if I made the reservations before the goal?) Wow, I'm good.