Baby Boom . . . ers
Turns out I'm one of those single people that gets to watch all of her friends get married, one by one. But I already knew that.

Now it turns out that I'm one of those single people that gets to watch all of her now married friends have babies. Seriously, it's a baby boom around here. Pregnant people and babies sprouting up everywhere. It's great, yet a little bizarre for me to see my friends with kids. I like to think that the babysitting money will be good.

But while many of my friends are having babies, I'm proud to say that I'm having . . . parents. I like to pioneer new things. Often doing things backwards.

Yes, next weekend I will be having parents. I'll be welcoming my parents back to Texas. To live. Here. Their sphere of influence will go from several hundred miles away to less than ten minutes away. It will be a wonderful . . . adjustment.

I see good things in this move. There will be a certain comfort and peace to having parents close by again. Free house maintenance, for one thing. My dad is quite a handy guy. And of course, the food. My mom is a great cook. I may never have to cook for myself again.

But all joking aside, this is a positive thing for my family, and a blessing of an opportunity for my family to be closer again. The parents have been away for almost four years, leaving less than a year after my sister died. I have to say, though, that since the news of them moving back here became a reality, I've been a flood of emotions and uncertainty. Excitement, yes. But also struggling with the fear of another change. I've been used to how things are now. And now it's time to mix it up again.

Most of all, I'm missing my sister more than I have in a long time. It's hard to think of my family being complete again with a move back to Texas, because in reality we'll never be fully complete again.

The last time my parents moved into a new house here, my sister was here. She came up from school for a visit and to check out the new digs. It was a rebuilding time for my family, so it was strange to me to have her around again. She had been through a 'little sister rebellion stage', and as the big sister still being responsible and living near my parents, it was hard for me to welcome her back and into my world. Little did I know these were precious times.

The way I used to relate best to my sister was to laugh. We could always laugh together, a lot. And laughing seemed to remind us that we loved each other. During this visit to the new house, I brought my camera. My sister loved to be photographed, and I just happened to like to photograph things. So we took a photographic walking tour of the house and yard. She posed near and besides things, and I snapped pictures. We laughed the whole way through. We were particularly fond of an interestingly peculiar fountain in the backyard. Not being quite sure what it was, we named it LeeLee. We then documented on film both our uncertainty of LeeLee's function, and then our discovery that she was there to squirt water over a circular flowerbed with some spiritual or otherwise superfluous significance. LeeLee made us laugh. It was good to laugh.

I've been reminded of these memories lately, as I work through what it will be like to have my parents home again. The other night I happened to pick up the photo album of these pictures and both laughed and cried my way through it. It seems so fresh in my mind, which is both strange and wonderful to me since it's been five years. My memory is bad when I need it most, so I'm always glad when I can specifically remember the memories. It was only months before she was gone. I still have the jeans she was wearing in those pictures.

It will be different to have my parents here this time, as we are different people now. For that, I am grateful. We've healed and grown, and I think much has happened for the better. It will also be sad to welcome my parents here to their new home next weekend without my sister to be a part of it. It just doesn't seem right, still.

Of course, I'll also miss LeeLee to help commemorate the moment. LeeLee was special. And she photographs well.

But I think I still just don't know how to be the only one. It was definitely nicer not to be the only one. It just seemed to make more sense in the family that way.

Inheriting parents again will be an adjustment. But, at least the food will be good.

Welcome home, Mom and Dad.

C.T.