Family.

Well….

School is officially over, and I successfully made it through another semester. Now for the winter semester. Why did I do this to myself? Spanish on my Christmas break? Shoot me. At least I’m in Lubbock. Once I get back to Midland, I won’t be able to do anything. My dad is enclosing our back porch at the house, and he likes to run those power tools allll day until about midnight.

I went to Tulsa this past weekend. Beyond amazing. I love spending time with family. I got to see my great Aunt Louise. She is AWESOME. 90 years old, still drives, and drinks like a freaking fish. She was remarried to this wonderful man about five years ago. I met him when I visited them in Stillwater three years ago, and haven’t seen either of them since. I was expecting him to be in Tulsa, but when we got there, Aunt Weeze said John had decided he couln’t make the trip. (He has trouble walking.) Then, on Saturday night, he surprised us by showing up unexpectedly. I got the cutest picture of Aunt Weeze and John. He is just such a great man. Silent, but he has this great booming laugh that fills the entire room. I love him so much. Both of them.

This reunion was not a Huff family reunion; but a Bulloch family reunion. I’m vaguely related to these people because they’re my dad’s cousins. So I got to meet my second cousins! It was great. (They’re not my  great cousins; although they are great cousins!!! Hahaha…I think only one person will that lame joke.) But they’re wonderful. I enjoyed every second of this weekend, and I can’t wait to see them again.

It was so nice to see Papa out of the house. He’s always at home taking care of my Mimi, and this was a much needed break for him. And he was so happy. I’ve never seen him smile so much. He and Aunt Weeze are adorable together. (That’s his older sister.) They told us about this dirty game they used to play in church. They’d take a hymn, like “Amazing Grace,” and after every line, say “Between the Sheets.” So it’d be:

Amazing Grace

(Between the sheets)

How sweet the sound

(Between the sheets)

And so on.

Extremely short example, but you get the drift. It was hilarious. You would never think my Aunt would be like that. But they just laughed and laughed and said they got in so much trouble when they were kids. It was amazing to see how much Papa loves his sister. It’s sad they get to see each other so little.

This weekend was amazing. I’ve said that already, I know. But it’s so nice to know more people in my family. And it’s so funny how even though I barely know them, it was easy to connect. I could talk, laugh. I was comfortable. And I’ve never felt so accepted by a group. There were two, my dad’s cousin Bitsy (I come from a family with odd names.) and his cousin’s wife, Mayo, and they were both these huge book buffs. So we talked about books for hours. I loved it. My immediate family is filled with engineers, lawyers, scientists, and I’m the one who just wants to float up to New York and read books. It makes it difficult because we think so differently, so this was a welcome change. I miss Bitsy already. She lives in Redondo Beach, CA, near LA. And she has the most soothing presence. You just want to be around her. It’s because she smiles all the time. My greatest wish is to be like her.

I think I’ve said all I can. I’m so grateful to have gone on that trip and met everyone. Now I know I have family in Oklahoma, Ohio, and California. And it’s wonderful. I miss them so much, and I love them dearly already.

On another note, things have changed so so much since Thanksgiving. Thank you, God. I have to believe it’s all Him. He’s helping me out again, and I have never been more grateful.

I must get back to Spanish.

_______________________________

“The cost of oblivious daydreaming was always this moment of return, the realignment with what had been before and now seemed a little worse. Her reverie, once rich in plausible details, had become a passing silliness before the hard mass of the actual. It was difficult to come back.”

–Atonement

Best. Book. Ever.