Generations

I am moving home, where the grass is greener, the trees are taller and the mountains.....well they actually have them!!!! The end of June my family will make one more long trek cross country, only I'm not returning to Texas in a few short weeks this time. Don't get me wrong, we will be back. We have family, a multitude of friends and a decade of memories here. But I have never felt like I quite fit here...there was always something just a little off, something not quite right no matter how "right" my current surroundings were.

The thing that I am most looking forward to is getting to take part in taking care of my family. My mom is the matriarch of our family. The one who hosts the holiday meals and events, the one who will call you and tell you what to bring for Christmas dinner, the one that goes to see her aging father every single day, the one that cooks the weekly meal that the whole family gathers at, the one that knows what everyone likes and dislikes and cooks or bakes that person's favorite thing for their special day.

I want to take care of her now. I want to cook Sabbath lunch and have her come over to my house and do....nothing. Just sit down and enjoy a home cooked meal. I want to take a day to be responsible for my grandfather so she has a little more free time on her hands. I want to drop by her office with my kids and a cup of hot coffee just to make her smile. I want to water her plants while she's out of town so they look nice for her when she gets back. I want to start new family traditions that my daughters will have as a part of their growing up experience.

The thing is, we learn how to take care of our families by watching previous generations do it. I remember my grandmother going to visit her mother every single day when she was living in a nursing home with Alzheimer's. I remember my grandma coming over to our house to do the laundry just to help out my over worked, over stressed mom. I remember always going to my grandmother's house for holidays and weekly family meals.

It's been eight years now since my gram passed away and my mom picked up the reins. I want to make my gram proud, I want her to know that I watched and I learned from her example. I have two daughters, they are little, but they are watching me, always watching. I want to hand down to them the same legacy that was given to me.