I received a message from my cousin Kris in early September telling me she's going to be back in St. Louis for a high school reunion at the end of the month and "would we be able to stop down and visit?" You bet your sweet .... umm, yes, Kris we'll definitely make the trip down to see you. It's only 4 hours and Bill and I love STL. Just to give you a little background. Kris lives in San Rafael, California and has lived there for about 20 years. I haven't seen Kris since my Aunt Dene's funeral in 2008 and, of course, when you see someone under those circumstances it's not easy to laugh and catch up. Before 2008, due to unforeseen circumstances (there was a bit of a family rift) I, honestly, cannot remember when the last time I would have talked to her.
I am going to completely get off topic here but I feel that this would be the perfect time to bring up Facebook. Oh the dreaded, horrible Facebook. People knock Facebook constantly about the drama, the cheating, and the gossip. In 2009, when I was beginning to plan my wedding and still under the impression that Facebook was the devil incarnate I was getting bummed out that I couldn't share details easily with my family. So I did the unthinkable and joined Facebook. I was smart about it and only became 'friends' with family and people that I would say "hello" to if I were grocery shopping. It might sound silly but it's amazing how many people you don't want to be in touch with!! For me, Facebook has let me keep in touch with my family, who besides my immediate family, is all out of town. Facebook allowed me to keep in touch and get to know the family that we hadn't spoken to in years. It's been pretty wonderful.
So back to St. Louis, I am excited to see Kris and make a little mini-vacay while we are there and Bill is excited that he finally gets to meet her! So we meet Kris for an amazing breakfast. The food was fantastic but we talked, and talked, and talked for 3 hours. My heart was just bursting with love, affection, and gratitude. I am so thankful we were able to see each other and have time to catch up. We left no stone unturned and had such a blast. My only complaint is that there just wasn't enough time! There is something about Kris... something that I just relate to. She has such a good heart and after all of these years we just picked up where we left off. We didn't miss a beat. Now there is talks of more mini-reunions and having all of the family and cousins get together.
I should also mention that by some strange fate my Dad was going to be in St. Louis that weekend for his high school reunion too! So the next day Kris and 'Uncle Drew' were able to catch up over lunch. I know that Kris was excited to see him but I've never seen my Dad that giddy about anything. He was excited about his reunion and seeing Kris was sweet icing on the cake. We love you, Kris!
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