Well, what I am going to talk about today is not a thing, really... its people, 3 distinct sets of people, actually...
First, is missing family that have left us. I am an only child who has a single mom. I was always really close to my maternal grandparents and my maternal great grandmother. I had them in my life for a long time (I really was very lucky in that respect). However, it was very hard to lose them as we did. In 2002, we were all living in South Florida. My mother and I lived in one home, my grandparents and my great grandmother lived in another; we had moved my great grandmother in to their home a few years before after she had a fall and was unable to live on her own anymore.
Another family member had a home that was empty so we all decided to move in together. So in early 2002, my mother and I moved into this home with my grandparents and my great grandmother. It was a good thing we did... a few months later, my grandmother woke up one morning and could not speak.
She was diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized to her brain, she passed away a few weeks later. My great grandmother, meanwhile had developed dementia and did not even know who we were. She was very mean and nasty to all of us. We ended up having to place her in an assisted living facility and she passed away about a year later. At the same time, my grandfather had been declining. He would sleep all day and be up all night (let me tell you how fun it is to be woken up at 3am when his ear phones came unplugged from his television and the volume is blaring...and he watched crime dramas so sometimes it was yelling/screaming/sirens). About a year later, my mother and I were taking care of him, and my aunt was coming to stay with us so that we could take a break. He passed away one night, right before we were supposed to leave. It was very sudden and we were not expecting his death, unlike the others. I miss them terribly. My grandparents were always there for me, we were always over at their house and spent holidays and weekends and pretty much ALL THE TIME with them. My great grandmother watched me when my mom worked while I was growing up. We were a very close family. I had them until I was 25+, I was lucky, I had friends whose grandparents passed away when they were little. I still miss them...
The second set of people are the family who are not close. Growing up, I had my grandparents and great grandmother, but I also had my aunt and uncle and my three cousins. We are now spread all over the US. I am in Southern Nevada, my oldest cousin and his family are in Colorado, my middle cousin and his family are in Southern California and my youngest cousin and his family are still in Florida. I also have extended family scattered throughout the US, second cousins all over. My aunt lives in Northern Nevada with my mom. I miss my mom the most. I see her alot, but not nearly enough. When we were living in the same city, I saw her, almost, every day. Hell, we lived together up until a few months before we moved to Southern Nevada. It has been 2 years and 4 months since we have moved to Southern Nevada. She comes down alot to visit. She is here probably every two or three months (she was here ALOT when I was sick). But its not enough. I want to be able to see her whenever I want, not just talk to her on the phone. She is still working though, so we have to wait until she retires so that she can move here (or we can go back to Carson...)
The third set of people is friends who are also not close. People that I left when I moved from place to place... Northern Nevada to Southern Nevada... South Florida to Northern Nevada... When we moved from South Florida to Northern Nevada, I left my best friend behind. We had been best friends since high school. We are those friends that can go months (and years) without talking or seeing each other and if we talk or get together, the years fade away. I have seen her twice since I moved to Northern Nevada in 2005. Once when she came to Nevada to visit and once when I went back to South Florida for her dad's memorial service. I think it is time to see each other again. She has moved to Tennessee so I am thinking about taking a road trip to try out our new van/camper...sometime...
So those are the people that I miss, I would like to give them all a big hug right now...
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