Healing Winter's Wounds....

Head in hands, I sank to the steps and let the first tears finally fall. Another year was too long to wait...

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My family's annual trip to Deep Creek is one we anxiously look forward to for months. This year, after being given a one two punch from Old Man Winter, the trip was not just a treat, but a necessity. We all were itching to reconnect, laugh, drink and shed our weary winter coats at last. For me it was so much more. Nearly three full days with my babies and my Boy...a rare gift.

Sitting in the passenger seat, the sun warming my face, I felt uniquely blessed.  The three people I cherish more than anything in the world were sharing the same space and I felt waves of nostalgia consume me. It had been more than two years since I was part of a "nuclear" family and for a few days I was going to revel in it. It wasn't just Girl, it was us. And so we drove and chatted and yelled at the little ladies not to put their feet on the seat. And, for a moment, we were one.

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We arrived first, anxiously awaiting my mother's arrival. The entrance of Mum would signal the start of the festivities. And lunchmeat. Mum always gets there first, raids the local grocery store and stocks up on enough lunchmeat to feed hungry children in Siberia. She also has an uncanny ability to buy exactly what is needed in the exact right amount. She rolled into the cabin armed with fifteen pounds of ham, toothpaste, coffee creamer and frisbees as big as the sun. Good lord did we have fun with those damn frisbees.

As the day progressed the rest of the clan slowly trickled in. Shortly before sunset all had arrived, claiming rooms and cracking beers. As the sun began to set, we all gathered outside to warm our faces in the waning light and breathe in the lake air. Music drifted along the breeze, kids were chased, hugs and high fives became more prevalent as the drinks flowed. And the time together started to heal what the winter had wounded.

The rest of the weekend was more of the same, too much to write here. We watched Papa dive into the hot tub, now conspicuously filled with bubbles and knocked each other over when the winning goal drifted across the red line. The Pens were headed to the next round. The girlfriends and I caught up while deveining shrimp, grilling one another on love and life. The wine on the windowsill threatened to spill as Pink and Tink rumbled by on their bikes. We cooked a gluttonous feast for the crew and I felt, in that moment, that I was whole again. What the last two years had taken from me had finally been returned in this brightly lit room full of food and laughter. Family and understanding. I looked at my mother and saw all that she and Papa had created.  All of these people, with all of their gifts and faults, all in one room. I was humbled by the enormity of it.

And Boy, fitting in like a glove. Shriveled from too much time in the hot tub, stomach sore from laughter. I never wanted to leave.

But leave we must and we did, parting with a last look at the lake and sending a silent wish to whomever would listen that the next year keep us all safe and in enough love that we meet back here again. Again, to let our hair down at the end of a long winter's nap.

Thanks Mum...