My family has been gone for the past 2+ weeks (since I got back from Mississippi), leaving me to fend for myself. They were up at my wife's parents' cottage in northern Michigan. They do it every summer, and I have made it up there every couple of years.
Being all alone has had its advantages. When I get home from work I don't have to follow any agenda but my own - although I did keep fairly busy with work around the house and work-related stuff. The quiet is also nice.
But now it will be back to the "happy chaos" of 4 kids, wife, dog all back in my life and I am glad for it. While they do make my life more complicated, they make it much more full. Families are a workshop where you get to love other people. I am not using the word "love" as an emotion, I am using it as an action. When I come home tired after work, my tendency is to want to relax and focus on myself. With family at home I am forced to look outside of myself, meeting their needs ahead of my own. That is what family is about, to a great degree. I get much more out of life because of my ability to give, especially to those who depend on me. I lose a lot of control of my life, but gain much more than I lose.
By the way, it does seem like my son changed a fair amount from his trip to Mississippi. My wife told me he was much more helpful this past week. I was wondering if he had caught some sort of brain virus or if he was possessed. Nope, just more secure with life, I guess.
