more time with the family

The one thing I liked about living a couple hours away from my immediate family was that I was insulated from the family. It'd keep me from really getting to know them, and all the info that I might be better not knowing.

For example, Sunday after we stuffed ourselves at the casino buffet, I volunteered to take my sister for a bit of shopping before taking her home. She doesn't get out much with adults, and I felt she needed to talk about things.

She vented a while about the stresses at home. This is what I was expecting.

Then somehow we were talking about my grandmother. I was commenting about how she played the stoic widow for 40 years, and never showed any interest in companionship by the opposite sex.

"No, she went out with Leon from the garage shop for a while after Grandpa died."

"When did you hear about that?"

"When I spent that month in Chicago after Grandma got sick during our visit a few years back."

"Am I supposed to know this?"

"Probably not."

So I miss out on little bits of dirt when I lived a few hours away. Guess I better get a shovel now that I live back up here.