Bittersweet

Last weekend, my parents finally moved south. My Dad accepted a new job last fall and it became clear pretty quick that it would end up moving them back to Georgia-- which I've just got to say could NOT have been better news in my opinion. But my Dad travels a lot and my mom needed to wrap up her job and she was having foot surgery at Christmas and they needed to get their house on the market, so it's been slow moving.

In the meantime, Uncle Eli has lived with us, while transitioning from college, deciding to take his LSAT, and applying to law school. When he first moved in, I was still working and he was a nanny manny. This was a hard time for me because I was leaving my teeny tiny, born early baby, along with my precious 22 month old, at home, and it's just hard on a mama's heart. Well, it could NOT have been better with Uncle Eli here if I had written the script myself-- he loves my boys like crazy, he's so good with kids, and he lived here. It was like win/win/ win.

In late fall, the Lord opened a door for me to be home (STILL THANKING JESUS FOR THIS BLESSING DAILY) and Eli started studying his butt of for the LSAT-- I'm talking around the clock unless he was at the gym or sleeping. And he did great (although in his opinion, he should've done much better and he's still kicking himself over it)-- great enough to get the Dean Merit Scholarship to Emory Law School-- which is not only in the top 30 of Law Schools, but it also only accepts 200 and some students each year-- basically, Eli is the cream of the crop. (Which I could've told you without him having to take that darn test!)

Since then, he's been swim coaching (until he heads off to Emory in the fall)-- one of his favorite things to do, and living in a tiny room in our tiny house with our little family full of small people. There really isn't much peace around here and there's never quiet, but he has had a great attitude despite it all! But on April 27th, we packed up all his stuff and delivered it to their new digs in The Virginia Highlands, right around the corner from Emory's campus. And I just can't tell you what this did to me. I haven't really enjoyed a whole other person's stuff in my house, and I know in some regards, it has made sleep training my baby a much tougher process, but I have absolutely LOVED having my brother here. He was my first baby-- born when I was 5-- I learned to change diapers on him, learned to worry and fret over him, learned to boss him around, and felt my first pangs of motherly pride around his accomplishments. If I could build a wing on my house for him, I SO would! (But for some reason, he makes fun of my suburban lifestyle and minivan... so I can't guarantee he would move into the wing if I built it.......)

It was such a blessing to have him here for a full year-- I know it wasn't his dream come true and I know it put a damper on his social life, but it was so special for my boys and his relationship with them. He knows how to take care of them, he knows their personalities, and he loves them like crazy-- and to say our three sets of blue eyes are crazy about him would be putting it extremely lightly.

So while it is nice having our house and storage space in our garage back, and it's also nice to not sleep lightly until he comes home at night (pathetic, I know, I just can't help it! I don't rest easy til all my peeps are in their place!), we really miss him, and the lump that formed in my throat his last few days here is just now starting to subside.

Uncle Eli, having you in our house this past year was a blessing for me and my family-- I hope you forever know how much we enjoyed you and your loving on our boys-- you will always be our favorite Manny, and we've loved being an intricate part of this season of your life. Don't forget about us... we'll track you down!