It’s the first time I’ve shown my grandparents — Nana & Bumpa — a place of my own. I moved away after high school graduation, so they haven’t had the opportunity to see so much as a cheap dorm room that I decorated. They’ve been up for a two-day visit — making me have some panic and hyper-anxiety about being as isolated as I could be this last couple of weeks. I’ve had to work during the day but have spent my last two lunches (or rather a brunch this morning with my mom making sourdough crepes, unreal) and evening with them and my uncle.
It’s one of the reasons I wanted to be home in Wisconsin. To be closer to them. I’ll go visit them in southern Wisconsin sometime this fall, see them again for Thanksgiving and on and on . . . more frequently than twice a year anyhow. It’s a reiteration of a lesson that crystallized for me at the beginning of quarantine: my family matters to me. And proximity matters to me and my family.
So tonight I showed them my new condo, freshly decorated on the surface (though don’t peek in all the cupboards and drawers yet). Who knows what they really thought of all my superhero posters, but they were happy for me. And they got to meet Merlin & Arthur. Merlin, ever in your face with his friendliness. Arthur, skittish but appearing on his own to rub against everyone’s leg before darting back into the bedroom.
It’s not that I needed anymore pieces to click into place — I know I made the right decision — but this is another one.
With Love,
Natalie