Visits with family are like music

Published 10:59 am Thursday, June 28, 2018

Summer brings many things, one of which is travel.

I have not been blessed with the gift of a vacation yet this year, however, we have been visited by family from the West Coast and it has been a joy having them here in Kentucky with us like we all used to be together in California.

One of the hardest parts of the decision to move east for me was leaving behind my family.

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When I was younger, my parents moved me and my siblings to Northern California and away from the family we knew in Orange County.

Growing up, all that mattered to me was finding some way to return to SoCal and be with the family we had left behind. Certain I would follow through on that dream if it was the last thing I ever did, time wore on and I got married, had children and started a new extended family.

Although not entirely forgotten, I made sure to visit down south and cherish the time I was able to spend with my original roots in SoCal.

Finally coming to the realization a move south was not in the cards, I started settling into our little town in Lincoln, California. I never dreamed I’d be packing up and leaving the family and friends I was busy building memories and a future with.

I recently looked at a picture taken only three months prior to our move to Kentucky when I took my girls roller skating and thought if someone had told me then I’d be driving across country in three months I would have told them they were insane.

But as time moves forward, and things change, a whirlwind of circumstances had us selling our home we only bought two years prior and tail-gating my husband for six days across eight states to finally arrive in Kentucky a little over a year and a half ago.

Our family has been beyond gracious to visit often since our move. We have had two visits in the last two weeks and are scheduled for more by the end of July.

When they do take the time to visit, I am reminded family is truly one of God’s greatest masterpieces and the love we share knows no distance.

Like they say, the littlest memories last a lifetime. Even in the short visits we all have been blessed to have since our move, the time we share is full of love and is what gets us through until our next visit.

Coming from a life where our family and friends were very joined at the hip between birthdays, weekend family BBQs, holidays and any event thrown in between, it has been a difficult transition to say the least moving so far away from those we love so dearly.

When they visit, it is nice to spend time and get lost in the reminder of our roots, where we came from and who we are, even if just for a little while.

A quote that hung on the wall in my first home was, “Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends and family belong and laughter never ends.”

We made sure to fill our house with those four important things in our life and time we lived in California. At times, it is the missing piece to our new life here.

Seeing family, even if not as often as we used to, allows us to get lost in the life we once knew.

They say you never know the value of a moment until it’s gone. I prefer the quote which reads, “Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.”

Even though we are not near the ones who matter most in our lives any longer, it is a blessing to us when they visit, making memories and reminding us of the time not so long ago when we were all near one another and never thought we would live apart.

“Family is like music, some high notes, some low notes but always a beautiful song.”

Through all our life together, the highs and the lows, the music and memories we are fortunate to make will be what gets me through until our next visit.

Hopefully, it just won’t be so far off.

Brittany Fuller is the community editor of The Jessamine Journal and Jessamine Life magazine. She can be reached at brittany.fuller@jessaminejournal.com.