Since their dad died and I sold the house and moved to the mountains, I don't hear from my stepkids very often. My biological kids weren't thrilled that I'd sold "Dad's house" either. But it was too much house for me. The costs stayed where they were and the income dropped by half. There was going to be needed upkeep and no one was volunteering to help with expenses or maintenance. And I'd always wanted to relocate to the mountains and opportunity was knocking. A year and a half after he died, I made the move.
My stepson was the voice of reason in this decision. Although I'm sure he too hated to see me let go of the house and all the memories, he realized, as he said, "it was 13 times too big for me" and when the time came, he drove up from SoCal to help with the move.
Out of the blue, day before yesterday, my cell rang and a voice said, "guess who this is?" He always waits months to call and then is afraid to call because I may be angry that he hasn't called. I can wait while you read that again so it makes sense to you. We had a wonderful telephone visit. Jeff and I can pick up right where we left off last time we spoke. To me that says a lot. He's planning a fishing trip up this way in early September and will visit with me while he's here. I'm really looking forward to seeing him. Partly, because I just plain miss him and partly because when I look at him, I see his dad and, as emotional as he is, he's not afraid to share memories with me. Our kids were never Larry's and/or mine. They were always 'ours'. I truly love and miss this son and can't wait for his visit and one (or more if I work it right) of his special hugs.
It was the best phone call I've gotten in months!
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