Family

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Muscle Shoals, AL wondering about a lot of things.

The last week has been very stressful, more stressful than I ever imagined. I'm quite certain I have nothing left in me to give, which is saying something because I'm rarely at the end of my rope.

I'm here because I have to clean out my grandfather's house. When he died several years ago, he left my Uncle in the house. Uncle was very sick, had been for a while, and passed away over Thanksgiving. He died instantly, according to the coroner, and didn't suffer.

My aunt, being ever on top of things, came up and wrapped up the first portion of things the week of Thanksgiving through last weekend. Uncle was a heavy smoker and the house, along with many family sentimental items, was nearly ruined for it.She cleared out the majority of the junk and left a few things for my brother and I, so here I am to take back to Atlanta what we want and get the house set for sale.

I'm worried about going to the house tomorrow. This is the first time I'm back in the Shoals since grandaddy died and the thought of being there without him is overwhelming. We were in Indiana for the Moto GP race the weekend he died. We would have dropped everything to go down there, but my car had just been totaled in an accident.

He met Jeremy and liked him instantly, but he didn't know that we were going to get married. We didn't get engaged until over a year later. If at some point we have a boy, I plan on Roy for a middle name in his honor.

I'm thankful for so many things about my grandaddy-- he always loved me and made me feel special. Whether it was teaching me how to plant irises, or showing up to my class in elementary school to read us a story and meet everyone, or tearing up every time he said goodbye to me I wish so much that I could give him one more hug. I wish so much that I'd had more time to get more about his experiences in WWII in Germany. That he could have been there on my wedding day.

But, that's life. People come and go, and it's not until we're too late that we learn we needed to treasure that time to the fullest.

If you have someone in your family you love but you never see, someone you would miss if they were gone tomorrow, make a point to see them. Write them. Anything to get in touch. Family is so very important. Now, stop reading and go make some memories.