Life slurps

I used to think life was wonderful. I was 10. Dandle didn't yet have a job, Mom didn't have to work (I think) and Dad still liked his job at Imco. During the summer, I would read and play with my sibs all day and go to bed at 9:00 (I was really happy that Mom would let me stay up so late). During the school year, I would do writing, which I hated, math, which I loved, and history, which I tolerated. I would also struggle through science; I didn't like it much, but it was OK. About every other month (sometimes more), we would see the Newsomes and have 3-5 days of glorious insanity. :) Then, we'd have a day of Newsome hangover and life would return to the wonderful routine.

Now, it's all different. Mom works at the Bank, Daniel works in Boston (so, even though he's home still, he is really busy all day), Chris and I work at the Piggly Wiggly in Watertown and Joseph works at the Piggly Wiggly in Oconomowoc. To make everything worse, Dad now works in Fargo, ND! Even before Dad left, we rarely had everyone home for dinner. Now, we're completely torn apart. Granted, we'll be moving to Fargo next year and Dad will be able to rejoin the group, but we'll be leaving Daniel, Chris and Joseph here at the same time. Or, more accurately, Daniel and Chris will be leaving us this winter and Joseph will be joining the army at the same time as Mom, Bethany, Grace and I rejoin Dad. We rarely see the Newsomes and almost never see all of them at the same time. Jessica, Daniel, Chris and Eileen are in college, and Joseph, David, Missy, Bethany and I are in high school; Grace is the only one left in middle school.

Next thing I know, all ten of us (Jessica through Grace) will be married and living in other states or countries. Well, maybe Daniel won't be married, but he'll definitely be living somewhere else. Then, we'll have to rely on annual family reunions to catch up with each other, and sometimes one or two of us might not make it.

Yep, growing up hurts, and life slurps.