Unexpected Visitor

I have waited a week to write this post so my emotions would have time to settle down a little bit in an effort not to come across as a babbling loon.  I can already feel the lump in my throat though, so forgive me if this is a little emotional.    

I have been estranged from my parents and grandparents for over ten years.  My relationship with my parents became strained when I was in high school and then completely crumbled when I married Joe, for reasons I probably don't need to point out.  I was devastated when I lost my parents, and assuming my entire family felt the way that my parents did, I completely disappeared.  I was so hurt that I just wanted to run away from all of them.  So that's what I did.  Mature?  No.  Necessary?  Yes.  I had to create my own family, start over.  Start new traditions, build a new life without them. 

I have a brother that I love with all my heart.  After the falling out with my parents, we stayed in contact with each other but eventually weeks became months, and months became years without any contact with one another.  We did not attend each others weddings, and nieces and nephews were born without us telling each other.  He and I share equal blame for that and we both know it.  Last week, he sent me a message via facebook and asked me for my phone number and I quickly replied and gave it to him, and the next evening I received this text message from him:

"So... If... I came to Memphis... What then?  If I wanted to see my little sis would she come to see me?"  

Now I have to say I didn't give a heck of a lot of thought to that text message.  I mentally calculated the odds of him coming to Memphis in the near future and decided the odds weren't great, so I casually replied that of course I would want to see him and left it at that.  And don't get me wrong, I absolutely wanted to see him.  I just didn't really think it would happen.      

Turns out he was already in Memphis.  :)  Being the math wizard that I am, my mental calculations were off.  My brother is an engineer, he works for Boeing and he was in town on business to meet with the folks at Fedex.  He texted me the next day and asked me if I could meet him at his hotel that evening, and my heart jumped out of my chest.  In hindsight, it was great that it happened that way.  It didn't give me any time to think.  I literally had one hour between realizing he was really here and meeting him.  I didn't have time to do anything except grab my keys and walk out the door. 

I was a nervous wreck when I got to his hotel.  I hadn't seen my brother in more than ten years.  And when I walked in the hotel lobby and saw him sitting there I felt so ashamed that we let this happen to us.  I hugged him harder than I ever have in our entire lives and I didn't want to let go. We had dinner at his hotel and talked for two and a half hours.  The next evening he came to the house for dinner to meet the kids and Joe.  Uncle Jake was a big hit with the kids, they loved him.  Justice is a clone of his Uncle Jake, I was so happy to finally have the two of them meet each other.  I see so much of my brother in him and I know they will form a strong relationship with each other through the years.  It was a great dinner, conversation was easy and good and it felt so good to have him in our home.

I'm so thankful for the odd circumstances that brought us back together.  One thing is for certain, I will not allow this to happen again.  I'm so thankful he reached out to me and that we were able to meet.  I am especially excited to get our kids all together so they can meet each other and make some great memories, and I cannot WAIT to meet my niece and nephews.

Here are a few pictures I took when he came to meet the kids:

Jack refused to look at the camera because he was afraid Justice was going to steal his Nerf gun.  

If you know me at all, you know I absolutely suck at Math.  I took college algebra three times before I finally got a C.  Justice the Math Wizard and I had this conversation about his Uncle Jake:

Justice:  So what does your brother do?  

Me:  He is an airplane engineer.  

Justice:  You have to be a math wizard to be an engineer.  

Me:  I know, he is a math wizard.  

Justice:  So THAT'S where I got all these brains from!   

Yeah, you betcha.  Thanks Justice, hahahaha! 

That conversation continued later with this:

Justice:  Man your brother is SO LUCKY, if he's an engineer he gets to sit around and do math ALL DAY LONG!! 

Sounds like torture to me, but OK Justice, if you say so!  

 Two peas in a pod.

     

This was an emotional meeting for Shandi, too.  She hadn't seen her Uncle in so long, but she remembered him and had good memories of times they had spent together.  She was so happy to see him.  

 Quite the resemblance, huh?  I was so happy, I think that's pretty obvious from the smile on my face.  

Sidebar note:  This is not related to this post, but I think it's important to say that I eventually got the courage to try and reconnect with my aunts and cousins, and I am so glad that I did.  They welcomed me back into their lives with open arms, and  I love them SO VERY MUCH. Time has brought many of us back together again, and I'm thankful for the family that I do have and I cherish those relationships so very much.