You oughta be in pictures!

We have been here for about 2 months now, and I am already thinking about how we are losing touch with family.  It's not like we saw everyone every day so I don't know why I am worried.  I guess the (mental) distance of being alone on the West Coast is prevalent in my mind right now.  

I am especially sensitive to conversations with Bode and Gianna.  The other day, Bode received a letter from his Aunt Melinda. I read it to him. He was looking straight ahead, just listening and thinking.  After I finished, he said, "I don't remember Aunt Melinda. Who is she?"  Knife in my heart. I gasped and said, "When you were just a tiny baby, she came out to see you! You were her little soba noodle! She patted you on your po-po and helped you fall fast asleep!"  He looked blankly at me.  I dropped the defensive front (a la "How dare you! She's my sister!") and tried a different tactic. I started with a physical description, and then said, "She's visited you in New York a couple of times." Then, a smile played on his mouth and he said, "She was the one that built the fort."  I cheered, "Yes! Yes! You two built the fort together in the woods!"  He smiled again and said, "I remember."

Yesterday, on the way to school, Gianna announced that "Rebecca" was a cousin.  Having no idea who "Rebecca" is, and even though it was a game, I corrected her.  "No, Danielle and Elizabeth are your cousins. And who else is your cousin?"  Silence.  "He's a boy,"  I prompted, "...and you like to sit with him when he visits."  Gianna immediately started giggling and said, "Andrew!"  She giggled some more and said, "He wants my purse. He always says, "Hey Gianna, can I have your purse?"  Bode and Gianna laughed about this some more.  I smiled, loving that this memory of Andrew still causes giggles.  What they don't know, and probably couldn't fathom, is actually how many cousins they actually do have in their family!

I love that Bode differentiates his two grandmothers by hair color.  I only love it because it showed me (at the time) that he had a vague sense of my mother, even though he hadn't seen her in a long, long time. It gave me hope that there is a memory there, somewhere.

Last night, I decided that I'm going to make a photo book of family members. Honestly, I never thought that these photo books were relevant to our family, because the children see their relatives a few times a year.  Now, I want to document everybody.  I want the children to have a reference to refer to when they receive a package, a letter, or a phone call.  So that in between visits, they can 'see' their family whenever they want to 'see' them.

I am in the process of reviewing photos to see what I can take from our archives.  But it would be really helpful if family members would take a head shot and email it to me! (hint) 

So long, February! Hello, March!

xo