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

Adventure Update

Casey comes home tomorrow at dinnertime. It feels so good to say that.

He was able to call Tuesday via the emergency satellite phone that staffers are basically never allowed to use. It really helped to hear his voice, to have Wes hear his voice. I am so glad I answered the phone! Wes walked over to me as I was making breakfast and started saying "da-da-da" and then I could hear the faintest ringing from the phone on the bookshelf. With a massive surge of adrenaline, I dashed over in a slight panic and caught it just in time. I doubt I would have heard it if it hadn't been for Wes.

The days have gone pretty well, considering. Wes asks about Daddy a lot and usually gets quite upset about his whereabouts at least once or twice a day. Big breakdowns. He kisses his picture throughout the day and carries around the Magnadoodle when we draw Daddy on it. Wes has started calling every man we see "da-da". We watch the videos that Casey recorded for Wes. The video of him reading a book was a brilliant idea and works very well. Hearing his voice on the phone was helpful for both of us. I am thankful that Wes is old enough to be able to express that he is thinking about Casey when he is upset. It helped me to properly support him.

Night has been the most confusing for the little guy. Wes gets up each night for about an hour or an hour and a half which is extremely rare under normal circumstances. He bolts up in bed, looks around, says "da-da" then wants to get up. We then go to the living room where he intends to wait for Casey to come home, sometimes standing by the door. It's sweet and sad and happens at 2:30 or 3:30 AM. One night he went to sleep with a picture of Casey.

 I think Wes really missed Casey, but I think he felt connected to him via pictures and videos and Casey's things, so I don't think he felt abandoned and I don't think it'll have any lasting negative effects. I think we managed it well. This all sounds so sad, but actually, we did have a lot of fun these past nine days, too. We read a lot of books, played with water. We didn't go to town much, but we danced a lot and had slews of fun playtime. We saw friends and family which was really nice.

I feel disembodied right now. I can now feel tiredness creeping in now that the finish line is in sight. This family may have a very sleepy Saturday.

I can hardly wait for our family to be together tomorrow night. I am so excited for Casey to be home. For me and for Wes. I look forward to melting into his arms in that way which happens after long separations. Goodnight.