“You can never go home again.”
I sort of felt like there might be some truth to the old saying last month as two trips and a housesitting gig kept me from staying at my house for about 20 days.
My home is small but it’s nice to have a space set up especially for me and my dog, Cooper. Cooper stayed with my parents during the trips and was reportedly well behaved but the already whiney Siberian Husky was even more talkative and wouldn’t let me leave a room without following closely behind when I got back.
Of course, that’s not what the saying really means and my second trip proves the actual meaning wrong.
Over the Fourth of July, I took a trip to visit my mom’s side of the family, who I haven’t visited for better than three years. It’s amazing how can eat up a schedule.
I spent the majority of time with my cousin, James. James is six years older and we weren’t especially close as kids but he reached out when I hit my 20’s and we got to know each other better. I’m glad we did as I found the guy (whom I was honestly a bit intimidated by as a kid) is very thoughtful and we share a lot of interests in good food, crazy movies and board and card games.
The family had a barbecue at his brother, Alan’s house on one day of my trip with his family and my aunts and uncles, whom I missed seeing.
Alan was the closest thing I had to a brother growing up as I was an only child. We spent lots of time camping in my back yard and hanging out at our aunt and uncle’s house during summers.
It’s different seeing him in his role as a father of two much a divorce, job change and a pandemic girls, but he handles the role well, and I enjoy seeing him, his wife and the girls joke around together.
We also got a small trip in to my Aunt Vicky and Uncle Joe, who were like second parents to me when I was growing up.
A retired minister, she was instrumental in how I understand my faith and both provided compassionate and patient ears when I needed to talk.
As a man approaching 38, the dynamics between me and all of the members of the family are drastically different, but it seemed like there was no lost time as I stepped into their homes.
You can’t go home again and it be exactly the same, but you might find the bonds have grown stronger over time and you appreciate both who your family were and how they grew.