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Aunt Bert Goes To Cali!

So, I've been home alone for three days now because Aunt Bert is in California! She went out there on an invite from my sister in law to surprise my brother, Neavrae, at his upcoming promotion ceremony with the Navy. This is her first time going to California and I'm really happy that she got to go out there to see my brother.

It's a little weird being here alone though. I'm so used to Aunt Bert always being home that it just takes some getting used to with her not being here every morning and every night. I'm managing to take care of myself and the house fairly well. I haven't burned anything down, mainly because I haven't attempted to cook anything. And I'm not even entertaining company at home which I thought I would but quickly realized I don't want to invite people into my home, especially folk I don't even know. I took down the Christmas tree, washed my bed linens and I'll probably do some more laundry later in the week. I've just been chillin and staying to myself mostly, and for that I'm kinda proud of myself.

But this whole thing almost didn't happen. When we took Aunt Bert to the airport to check in the attendant at the counter informed us there was a problem with her ticket. It had been reserved, but not paid for. Apparently my sister in law made the reservations though a travel agent, and somehow her payment didn't go though to complete the transaction. So the morning of her scheduled flight we had to get on the phone and pull some strings in order to make sure Aunt Bert still made it to California. I even had to do a little bit, but nothing is too much sacrifice for my Aunt Bert. She's my everything.

I really hope she's having a good time in California and I hope she's enjoying my brother and his wife. I've never been to San Diego, but I hear the weather is always nice, so I'm sure she's having a good time out of this winter weather we're having here in Virginia right now. Shit, today it's supposed to snow so I doubt very much that she is missing home at all right now.

I have to admit though, I felt like a parent dropping my child off somewhere when we took her to the airport. I know she's a grown woman, more than twice my age, but I just feel nervous whenever I'm sending her out in the world without me to navigate all the technology and media that bombard us in airports and big cities. I even instructed her what to do during her layover so as not to get lost or miss her connecting flight. I'm sure she rolled her eyes at me, trying to give her advice, but I just felt better after having said it. Just so she heard it from me. But everything went well with her flight and she arrived at LAX on time. My brother and sister in law were there to pick her up on time and I called to check in as soon as I saw the flight had landed via Google.

One thing that really made me feel good about this entire situation was a small thing that many wouldn't even be concerned with. When I left her at the TSA check in line, I kissed her on her cheek, like I always do. When she arrived in LA my brother hugged her and kissed her on her cheek too. I don't know if this is something we were brought up to do, but it was just such an obvious act of love and respect that it made me so happy to know that she left one son who loves her immensely and went into the arms of another son who loves her to the ends of the earth. I don't have to worry about her because I know she's in the best hands she can be in if not in mine.

So, for the next few days I'm just sitting around here trying to find things to keep me busy. Tonight I'll be praying that it doesn't snow more than a couple of inches. And over the weekend I'll be looking forward to getting my Aunt Bert back in one piece. But until then, I hope she truly has a wonderful time and I hope she gets to see lots of new and exciting things. I am forever grateful to my sister in law who was the force that made all of this happen. And even though there was a bump in the road we worked together to make sure it didn't derail this entire project.


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