Lughnasa Labor Day Moon
Grandparent immersion finished up yesterday with a trip to the Colorado History Center. This two week time got us all the way here with the grandkid experience, something we had lagged on a bit with finishing up the move, then the prostate cancer. We ate meals together, rode a train, saw Buffalo Bill’s grave, hiked in the mountains, put our hands on the active exhibits at Robot’s Rising and played with toys at the Colorado History Museum.
There was quiet time with dogs, wandering around in the backyard, playing with legos, reading, sewing. We had to learn each others idiosyncrasies and adapt. There were kerfuffles, too, of course. All of this led us to a deeper appreciation of each other.
Mountain living combined with family, that was the goal. We wanted our home to be our home, separate from Jon and Jen’s not only by distance, but by geography. Buying the house on Shadow Mountain accomplished half of our goal.
The other half has had more complications. There was initial resistance to the distance we were from Pontiac Street. And our refrain in that instance is, “We’re 900 miles closer.” I’m not sure how much of that resistance remains, but this past two weeks demonstrated our resolve. There is, too, the change from occasional visitors to full-time residents. This requires fine-tuning our relationships in ways not previously necessary.
We’ve begun this process, but are far from finished with it. I imagine it will take months, if not years and even then the fine-tuning will change as the kids grow older. Us, too, for that matter.
