Hi there! I hope everyone is doing well. This is always a weird time as spring turns to summer and even if you don’t have kids there are some real palpable changes that occur and it takes a little getting used to… At least, that’s how it is in my world. This summer brings a huge change and it’s been a real surprise as to how I’ve handled it. My parents made the decision about two years ago to leave the province and retire to a farm in the middle-of-nowhere Saskatchewan. I am bitter and sad for many reasons, but mostly because they are my son’s only grandparents. They aren’t the most involved grandparents in the world, but they’re all my son has and now their relationship will go from thin to nothing. They say they will visit all the time but I know better… YES, I am being melodramatic, but I know a lot of retired people. You think you will have all the time in the world but it doesn’t work that way: retired people are always busy!!!! I would always have to call them and ask them if Phoenix could come and sleep over, what’s that going to be like now? “Hey, you haven’t called in 4 months, just wondering if you want to know what Phoenix is up to?” I don’t know… It’s going to be weird, that’s all I know.

The last time I’ll pull into the driveway:

The lasts of a lot of things. It hit me as I was walking from empty room to empty room that I would never again have a Christmas or birthday or random family dinner at “The Parents” and I just started bawling. Like, the ugly cry. I think it will be okay, but this summer is going to be a summer of change.