27 January 2014

It is almost a year since my eldest left us and it is still so hard to think that it is for ever, that never, in the present physical form anyway, will I ever see him again.  There are days when all I want to do is the hug the kids I have left, close oh so close.

This brilliant piece of writing, that seems to have gone viral online, so resonated, because that was a question my son, with all his various illnesses, that he always had.  In fact, the Christmas before he passed on, he told us, and especially his doctor uncle, 'I want to know how long I have left to live, so write me up all the possible medical tests I can do'....  Ah, who would have thought it was just over a month that he had left.  And then again, who knows how much time any of us have left.

12 January 2014

Two months over!

We (my husband and I) came here, to Chicagoland, on November 13th and we return home on January 13th--exactly 2 months.  When planning this trip, two months seemed a long enough time to spend with our son and family.  But today, when the time is almost up, it just doesn't seem enough.  But then again, we have to return to our own home and there are grandchildren waiting back in India too.

The thought that upsets me most though, is the thought that I won't be seeing my son again for another year.  All of us parents who have their children in far away places have to bear with that I know.  At least nowadays technology allows us to stay in touch with our children, unlike say, when my brothers came to the US.  Then there was just the phone and that too the Trunk Call, which, for all the trouble it was, was only used for emergencies.  Letters and photographs were all there were.  So we have a great deal to be grateful for now.

Now it is back to work and readjusting to the heat at home :-).  I can't really say back to the grind though.  I think I quite enjoy what I do and anyway, there is just over 2 months left before the long summer vacation begins.  Actually what I dread most about returning home is the many social functions which come up and which cannot be missed.  I am not a sociable extrovert.  So it was doubly great being here and when I looked at pictures of weddings I had missed, I liked the pictures, but most of all I loved that I wasn't there.  Sounds terrible I guess, but there it is.

And so it is bye to Illinois for now.  I hope we come in summer next time, when we can do many more outdoor activities.