Disappearing Act

I know you are probably wondering what's happened to me the past couple of weeks. I could say that I decided to give up posting for Lent, but that's evidently not the case. Nor have I given up on the whole blog thing and just decided to let my page slowly wear away into the mysterious expanse of the internet. The simple truth is, I've been absolutely swamped. I've barely been able to keep my head above water these past couple of weeks, and really don't have time between now and Spring Break (1.5 weeks away) either. I'm just refusing to do work tonight. Or anything more than reading at any rate.

I've been thinking recently of how distant I've become in so many of my relationships. I remember growing up, how every time we moved I would swear it was the time that I was going to keep up correspondence with those friends I was leaving behind. If I ever did, it slowly lessoned. Each letter was more delayed than the last. And then they just stopped completely. I've been noticing with friendships I have now. It has taken a lot of determination to keep involved with some people. As hard as it is sometimes here in town, it's been even more so with people who live in other cities, and other states.

Lets run through the list. I haven't seen most of my maternal relatives for 12 years. My maternal grandparents came up to visit occasionally, but the last time they came was probably 4 or 5 years ago. My paternal grandfather came up to visit a couple of summers ago, but I haven't seen my paternal grandmother or my uncles for, again, 12 years. I think they (my grandmother and at least one of my uncles) are planning to come up sometime this spring, which is tremendously exciting.

I do keep in touch with my parents. I didn't get to call home too much last year, but this year I've been calling at least once a week, often more. I think it's because I fear drifting away so much. I don't want to have the relationship with them that my parents have with their families. My dad hears from his family maybe 3 times a year, total. Birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

One of the things that really bugs me is what has become of my brother and me. We spent years in the same house and couldn't really stand each other. But now, I haven't seen him in 3 years, and I rarely get to speak with him. When I do hear what is going on with him, it's usually relayed through my parents.

I've been fighting. I've been writing letters. I've been determined to know how people in my family are doing. Is this just how it is? We fall to the point of the obligatory holiday phone call? You know, all this technology is supposed to be making communication easier...I don't think we are using it to its full potential.



And on a side note: A little too ironic: Blogger spell check doesn't recognize "blog" as a proper word. Neither does it recognize Blogger. You think they'd fix that.