Reunion

We just finished a wonderful long reunion weekend. It is so amazing to have Casey back.

When Casey pulled up, we went down to meet him. Wes gave one little shy look away and then flashed his biggest smile. He was so happy to see his Daddy. He smiled and hugged Casey and snuggled up. It felt so good to be together again.

For the first couple of days Wesley wouldn't let go of Casey. Casey couldn't set Wes down, he couldn't leave the room, and every book was read by Daddy. It started to lessen a bit yesterday, and Wes doing fine today with Casey at work. It is clear that Wes had lost some of his confidence that Casey will "be right back" if he disappears--some of his constancy had waned. But, they have reconnected this weekend.

Our four and a half day weekend was filled with so much wonderful time together. I loved it. We are both in "get stuff done" mode in addition to relaxing. So we continued work on cleaning out our second bedroom, we pruned up our tomato plants (thank you, Casey, I couldn't bring myself to hack them back), we walked around town, and we played a lot. I'm happy that Casey's trip was a big success, that it went smoothly.

This past Saturday also marked ten years since I met Casey. Ten years ago we showed up at college to our accomodations in the same dorm, met eachother on Casey's first (my second) day of school. We became quick friends and then loves. I regularly feel like one of the most fortunate people in the world for having our relationship, for having a partner like I do. It is truly special. I would choose Casey again, a million times over.

We have changed so much over the course of a decade together--we are significantly different people at 28 than at 18, and we have helped one another to grow, have practiced giving one another the right amount of space and support transition after transition. I am thankful that through all of our starts and stops, through all of our wonderings about what path our individual lives should take, we were wise enough to continue to work at our relationship, to stay together, because it keeps getting better and better. I look forward to seeing what this next decade brings. Welcome home, love.

For the record, and off the top of my head,
We have lived in:

1. Redlands, CA (dorms & house-sitting gig)
2. Napa, CA (Casey's Mom & Don's house)
3. Hostels & hotels across 9 European Countries
4. San Rafael, CA
5. Corte Madera, CA
6. Oakland, CA
7. Lopez Island, WA (camping at a farm, then housesitting, then in an adorable cob house)
8. Fairfield, IA
9. Petaluma, CA

We have worked as:
hot air balloon chasers, wine cellar worker, front desk at fancy hotel, documentary director & filmmaker (in Mexico), yoga studio front desk, Jobcorps records worker, administrative assistant at investment firm, landscaper, Lonely Planet warehouse worker, film editing intern, farm workers, documentary researchers, production assistant (in France), personal assistants, home builder, medical data entry clerk, counselor