Homesick

I think I was homesick this past weekend. Saturday I called my brother Tim to see how the remodeling is going on the farm house and to chat with him. He was in the middle of painting the “parlor”, but took time out to talk to me. We had a nice visit.

Yesterday I called another brother, Steve and had a long chat with him. I called my niece to wish her Happy 18th Birthday, and her Mom was home too, so I talked with her. Then I called two of my cousins, neither was home, but I left messages to let them know I was thinking of them.

I called my sister Julie and we talked for almost an hour. Saturday before last, I had a great conversation with one of my aunts. That same day, I called my best friend from school, who lives in New Jersey, we talked for over an hour.

I miss talking to my Mother by phone on an almost daily basis. Since she and Dad, and my Mother in law are all gone, I have kept in closer communication with my siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins, nieces and nephews. 36 years ago when I first moved here, it was very expensive to make telephone calls. We hardly ever called, and if we did, we limited your conversation to a few precious moments, because we didn’t want to face that huge phone bill when it came.

Thanks to lower long distance rates, calling cards and cell phones, it is so much more affordable to call now and you can talk like you were face to face with them, and for more than a few measly minutes. I have a calling call that I have pre paid minutes on, and when it hits 100 minutes, I “re-load” it, so I never have to face a phone bill. I also have a cell phone that gives me unlimited free calls all Saturday and Sundays. This weekend I really made use of that convenience!

It’s important to me to keep close ties to my family, though they live more than a thousand miles away. Talking to them helps lift my spirits, and I hope it does the same for them. I want them to know how much I love them. These phone options make it much easier living in Duluth away from my family than the first 20 years or so that I lived here!

I think it’s time for me to start looking at dates and airline fares and plan a trip to Pennsylvania!