The days and weeks just evaporate like raindrops in the sun…
Chantale, Melyssa, Kyle, and Charlize flew down to Emeryville on July 1st and spent the last week and a half with me. They flew back to Montreal today (their plane just landed a short while ago). Why does time always have to go so fast?
It wasn’t the kind of vacation we were hoping to take this year as a family, but with the vacation blackout period I’m under on top of the timing requirements of everyone else, it was the only time they could take. So, they flew over here and got to live a little of my day-to-day life. Really not hot or sunny here, but they did bring the sun which helped make their first weekend really nice. We spent quite a lot of time shopping and driving around, even heading into the mountains. Had some nice meals in the close-by restaurants and then, finally, this past weekend we headed into San Francisco to enjoy a bit of the Golden Gate Park (or more specifically the Academy of Science). The Sunday we spent at Pier39 was also quite nice as the sun was out and the crowds were unbelievable. We had lunch at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co which was really fun, too 🙂
Having them here in the hotel, although a little crowded, was so nice I can hardly express it. I would get up at 630am and out the door at 7am while everyone was still sleeping. I would get home a little after 4pm and we would hang around and chat before getting supper done. After supper, things depended. We either went for a walk, or just hung out more and watched a movie or something. Like I said, it wasn’t exactly a “vacation” but it was a nice break and being able to see each other for that long was wonderful.
Of course, the sadness I felt last night was nothing compared to the pain I felt this morning after breakfast. I tried to be strong in front of the kids but it was impossible and the waterworks started – which, of course, made Kyle really sad and he broke down crying as well – which made Charlize sad and worried. It took a while to compose myself again – long enough to accompany them downstairs to the waiting taxi. I stayed strong long enough to get Charlize and Kyle to smile again but once they drove away, my tears returned. It took the walk to work to get myself under control again but the moment I walked through the doors to the suite tonight and saw the empty room… well, then everything shattered once more.
Have I mentioned how hard it is to be away from my family? 🙁 It’ll be 2 months soon which means another 7 months to go. It’s a good thing there is SO much work to do because I’m kept so busy I don’t have time to miss anyone during the day. The evenings, I get to Skype with them which helps. Besides which, evenings generally aren’t very long. So, yeah. Hurts like hell today/ tonight, but I’ll be better tomorrow. And then, there will only be 7 do-dos left before I fly back to Montreal for the weekend AND Kyle’s 6th Birthday 🙂
Chantale and the kids should also be able to come back for another week at some point during this summer, and I’ll be off the last week of August as well, so we’ll have a good amount of time together. After September, a new schedule will come into effect so we’ll have to see how that goes. At that point we’ll be able to count the months on one hand which will also help.
For now, I’ve got some nice photos (like the trip to the Muir Woods Lookout) as well as nice memories (like going to dbshoes with Kyle and getting Converse runners for both of us) which will have to do to keep me going…