Time goes by fast, but we could mostly spend it well. My cousin Lissa came over with her 3 little girls (newborn, 4 and 5 Years old). The oldest remembered me from last visit, the middle one didn’t and was shy at first. But then I pulled out the guitar and sang some songs and played with them for about 2h. They are so cute and have such amazing imaginations. My cousin hardly lets them watch TV and reads to them a lot. I think that’s a good foundation. It’s hard to fill in gaps with your imagination if there are no gaps to be filled.

The next day my mom and I got up early and took the train to Seattle. We spent the afternoon with my uncle and his family, saw some of his murals and went out with them to dinner in a Mexican restaurant. The staff were singing Happy Birthday to some customers, so my mom told them that it was Rick’s birthday too. It was of course not his birthday and the prank birthday song embarrassed him a lot! He took it well, though, and simply muttered to my mom “I love you too, Amy…” Plus we got free desserts :)

And the next morning we said good bye and flew home. We took seperate flights and both of them went well. We got home safely but exhausted.

Saying good-bye is always hard for me, especially when I know I won’t see them again for a long time. In the case of my grandpa, I will probably never see him again, on earth at least. I believe in heaven and that we will be with Jesus, so when I told him that I would see him again for sure, I wasn’t lying. He is a broken person, just like anyone, with his issues and weaknesses. But he’s my grandpa and was one of my first inspirations in art. My love to you, grandma and grandpa, and see you again someday :)