Quiet Time

Drew said something sort of whimsical to me today as we drove to the local diner to have dinner with my dad and brother.  He said, “It is kind of funny.  When you live far away from your (extended) family, you wish you could see them all of the time, but when you live as close as we do, sometimes you wish you lived farther away.”  I knew exactly what he meant.  We all love spending time with our extended family.  The boys see my dad nearly everyday and I know they appreciate all that he does for them.  A typical dinner for our family on the weekends especially, usually consists of thirteen or so people so only five of us was a rarity!

I get it.  I know what he means.  Living in the same town that I grew up and having most of my family nearby is very special to me.  There are so many advantages to living and working here.  DJ always jokes that everywhere we go, I see people that I know.  He laughed on our drive up to Connecticut saying, at least in there, we could go places without being recognized.  He was wrong 🙂  We saw a family from our town who was dropping their daughter off at the University of New Haven while we were there!  Even tonight, at dinner, we wound up sitting next to a family from my school.  I have taught two of their children – but I love that! Seeing families and friends when we are out brings me joy. I can’t imagine myself in a big city where I wouldn’t see familiar faces all around me on a daily basis. 

But back to what Drew was talking about in the car, sometimes it is nice to just sit back and do something with “just us.”  I think that is what we enjoyed so much on our quick get away to Connecticut last week.  Just three of us in the car talking about everything and anything.  Tonight, although Dave isn’t home because he is playing soccer, the boys and I are about to make popcorn and watch a movie.  Just us.  No cousins, no friends, no other family.  A quiet night together and although we delighted in the last few weeks with so much family around, it is nice to kick back in our pajamas and share some quiet time together.

Tagged: family time, kicking back, living in the same town as I grew up in, love seeing students I teach outside of school, movies and popcorn, New Haven, quiet time, Small Town, UNH