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| Easter Lillies |
Over the past year I've found that holidays always make me feel the most homesick. Easter was no different. Traditionally, I go to church with my mom and grandma, and then later that afternoon we have an early dinner of honey baked ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, etc. The other half of my west coast family, the Youngs, would also come over to celebrate family and the resurrection of Christ. A couple days before Easter this year, I had a reality check - Easter was only 3 days away and I was not going to celebrate with my family or take part in the usual festivities. This fleeting thought blew me away, and I cried. I realized how much I missed my family and how my new journey with Matt has forever changed the holidays I remember. Not to mention, I had never really participated in creating Easter dinner, so I had no idea how to recreate it. Does Moscow even have honey baked hams? Not that Matt and I needed an extravagant dinner for just the two of us... but it still made me sad to realize I would not experience another Easter of my childhood.
On the other hand, Matt and I created some great memories from our first Easter together. Matt celebrated the end of his first year of medical school by receiving his first white coat. :) Luckily, Stephanie, my wonderful MIL, was able to join us to celebrate. The three of us enjoyed a beautiful spring walk through University of Idaho's arboretum, and while she was here I had the opportunity to grow closer with her. On Easter Sunday Matt and I also served our church by volunteering as pre-k leaders to some well dressed, energetic kiddos. (We are clearly not ready to be parents yet! Sorry mom.)
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| White Coat Ceremony, April 18th |
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| Spring Walk |
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| Resurrection Sunday, April 20th |
All in all, I guess I'm slowing learning what it means to "grow up" and live a married life away from family, and missing holidays is something I'll have to grow accustomed to - though I doubt I'll ever like it. But change can be good, and even though I miss my Dung* family holidays, I'm sure Matt and I will continue to create new family traditions as well.
*Dougherty family + Young family = Dung Family :) Est. 1999 (I think)
Hey I was thinking about you today and I read through some of your blog posts. I really love this one. It's interesting to me how I look at what home means as I move through life. I think especially in connection to your post about beauty in death, there's a redefinition of home there, too.
ReplyDeleteI love you! Thanks for blogging, I know it takes work but it's nice to read your thoughts. Especially since I'm not married yet—your experiences are so foreign to me because I haven't gone through that life stage yet, and it's really interesting for me to read your thoughts about it!