My younger sister is the only one of my siblings who decided to stay and live in the Seattle area after moving away from home. As I have matured, and as she has matured, we have grown to enjoy spending time together more and more. My talents as a carpenter and availability as a willing contributor to her happiness are recent discoveries by her. On Monday she had me over to show off her new apartment in Bell Town, and also to put together some of her build-it-from-a-kit-anyone-can-put-together-this-simple-furniture-with-neither-tools-nor-skills furniture packages. The corner bookcase turned out to be the perfect replacement for the old one, which did not match anything in her place.
Mostly due to our age difference, Anne and I have only had a few conversations of any depth. I forget sometimes that we grew up under the same roof with the same parents and other family providing instruction and other boundaries. I was interested to hear how much Anne finds she has in common with our mother.
After spending a week at a house in Seattle proper, I returned to my family home last night. My mother Linda, who is moving forward with a new phase in life, and I have the house to ourselves while my father is away on business. Linda, encouraged by her cancer diagnosis, has decided to retire after 20 years of teaching. Her friends held a party for her today.
I have never found relaxing around my family to be so easy as it is now. None of us knew what to expect when I moved home. Now that I am back we still do now know what to expect. I am trying to incorporate the good habits I formed in Albania into my American life and that necessitates a special kind of vigilance. I want to continue to live free of the bonds I enjoyed the freedom from while abroad.
albaniacalling 