Love your family now.

Who knows, they may be gone tomorrow.

Hopefully not.

Several months ago, I was looking at our holiday card list, and I was shocked by the fact that…

– several people had passed away.

– there were a few divorces.

– others I just simply lost touch with.

one of those names that I deleted from the holiday card list was my grandma.

She passed away last year at 101.

I’m so happy that my boys knew great-grandma 🙂

My wife’s mom, who the kids call “Baba”, which is short for Babushka (Russian Grandma).

She’s a wonderful lady, who lives with us several months of the year. The rest of the year she’s freezing in Siberia 🙂

Sure, having an extra person in the house can be challenging at times, but the way I see it, there is WAYYYYYY more good than bad.

She’s super helpful on so many levels.

At times (many times), I take her for granted. I try not to.

Being honest, I take lots of things for granted in my life. I find it’s easy to do, when that person, place, or thing shows up every day. It’s just part of the routine, until it’s not.

Baba left this morning back to Russia and there’s a void in the house.

When she’s here, we don’t talk much because of the language barrier, but there’s always an unspoken energy that fills the Vroman house. A good energy.

When I take time to slow things down, I’ll consciously pause to think how grateful I am for her support. I try to acknowledge her for the immense love she provides to my boys.

My personal reflection this week is to love Baby, while I can.

This journey for us all will come to an end one day.

There will be a time when Baba doesn’t visit anymore, so I’m choosing to soak in these moments while I can.

I want to be conscious for all the good, and yes, the challenging also.

Give me the full human experience!

Who in your life would you be sad, if they were gone?

JV