We covered the usual topics: weather, work, my current location, travel, etc when the volume of the TV led me down a different path.
“Have you watched any of the women’s soccer?”
“No.”
“The Women’s World Cup. They had the first semi-final today. The US won!”
“Is it an international game?”
“Yup.”
“Where is it being played?”
“France.”
“[Aunt J] and [Uncle P] are going to France next week. [Aunt J] told me yesterday.”
“To see family?”
“Yes. I think he gets lonely and misses his family.”
“I think you’re probably right. We all know what it’s like to miss family!”
“Have you seen any of your family members recently?”
I repeated my tales of my most recent trip, which involved all of my nieces and nephews.
“They’re all growing up sooner or later,” Maga said. “You can’t prevent it.”
Ain’t that the truth.
“I’ll be seeing some of your family members soon.”
“And me too,” I reminded her.
“Oh, you’re coming as well??”
“I am.”
“It’s been a long time since I saw you.”
I counted the months since her birthday. “Four months. It’s a long time and it’s also not.”
“You came for my birthday?”
“Yup. Fifth year in a row.”
“It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”
Maga was right about that. Long days, short months. It expands when you’re younger and shrinks when you’re older. Time is weird. But fortunately, a couple of weeks should pass by quickly so we’ll be in the same time zone before we know it.
Abigail Mumford 