Torkelson graciously drove me, Addy, and Zane to my parents house. Along the way, Addy got to experience the true boredom that comes with being in Indiana (IN) for more than a day. It was the worst time of the year to be "sight"-seeing, since there is no snow and no green. It is a flat, brown wasteland. As you can tell, I miss it. The only thing I miss from IN is my friends and family. If you haven't noticed yet, almost all the pics from this trip are of people, there are almost none of the countryside or buildings. Those of you from IN know why, and for those of you not from there, if you ever drive thru (I don't say visit, because there is no reason to) you'll understand.
After hugs, the weather was so great, we wanted to be outside, so we all took a walk around my old grade school campus (which is in my parents' backyard). The constant thing in life is change, right? Well that was bore out in that walk. The campus looks completely different than from when I went there, and I realized that I don't know anyone currently enrolled there. Just to top things off, I saw one of my swimming teammates and was grateful that I had the support to move away. After the walk, we went out to get a beer at Kokomo's microbrewpub, Half-moon. Then went to see my grandma in her new apartment. I hope I get to live in a place like that when I get older. She's got a cafe, bar, soda shop, home theater, spa, gym, pretty much all you need in one building. Plus a pool of friends that you get to see everyday. I hope she really likes it. In her apartment she has a plaque that has a message from my grandpa to those he left behind. It made me weep. I've still got some feelings of guilt about not being at the funeral or having seen him for a while before he died, but more than that, the words just reminded me of how selfless and refreshingly honest he was. I hope that I live my life in a way that would make him proud.
For dinner, Dad treated us with "Dad's Famous Ribs and Chicken" of course with mashed potatoes. This is one of my favorite meals at home and I think he just keeps perfecting the recipe. After dinner, we gave Mom and Dad their birthday gifts, which included a Wii Fit. That occupied us for the rest of the evening.
The next day we got to have my mom's famous egg casserole that is my favorite breakfast at home. Zane and her had prepared it the night before and it was great! (as always) In the afternoon a bunch of my extend family came over to visit and it was so great to see everyone. This is without a doubt the thing that I miss the most, since I haven't lived in Indiana. I have a big family on my mom's side and I grew up spending a lot of time hanging out with them. Either in a big get-together setting like this or just spending the night with my cousins. I'm so lucky to have such a great, supportive family and hardly get to see them. The upshot is that is that the time I do get to see them carries that much more weight for its being rare. I love and miss you all.
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