:( Summer Blues... or the Temporary Summer Blues

I've been in a kind of slump this past week.  besides reading, I haven't felt like moving around or doing anything.  In fact, I feel kind of disconnected.

Like I don't want to get up,

I don't want to talk to anyone....

and it hit me today what was wrong.

My youngest son moved completely across the country from me.

might as well be halfway around the world,.

and...

I'm missing my youngest son - a lot.

I'm proud of him -

he has the balls to pack up and leave

to go spread his wings

and experience life in a completely different state, 

{and we all know

states in the USA are almost as different from each other 

as other countries}.

almost.

So whoever reads this gets to suffer through some family picks.

He's not always this serious.  This is a recent pick - and you can't tell from here, but his hair is almost black but his beard is a red-brown.

This probably speaks for itself....  Zombified Will....

He's always been very good with his niece and nephew (couldn't quickly find any picks of nephew and Will)

He's playing here with my grandaughter

I love this pic - the two of them.  Looks like they're going to walk right into the ocean.

He taught HIMSELF how to play drums....and was good enough to play with a very good guitar player.  They formed a two man band, called it Wilken (will and ken) and the other guy could sing!  Blues/rock blend.  

My four kids.  together.  They play together too, still enjoy each other's company quite a bit.

My daughter's wedding four years ago.

Oldest in the back, my only daughter in the front, and my middle boy and Will on the sides...

Playing a gig in Oakland, Ca, along with another group called The Connies....

By this time, Wilken was a three man band - they added a bass player

It was hot up there on the stage...

One of the other band challenged him to take off his shirt....so he did.  He always takes dares.

What followed was one the most inspired playing.

the guitar player would do a solo, then Will would do a solo, and they did this back and forth til the audience was hollering and cheering.  

sigh...it was great.  :)

 he was just starting to get sick here - he was in fourth grad and came down with some mysterious sickness.

He lost weight, lost a patch of hair in the back...

he was always getting sick as a kid.

a year later, he caught a cold, and then suddenly couldn't walk.

His brothers carried him around the house for about a week, and suddenly he could walk again.

Doctors didn't know what happened.

Or maybe they didn't care enough to do the right tests.  We had medi-cal at that time...

Here is a good pick of his hair.  My oldest and my youngest, as well as my sister have this type of hair.  It's genetics from Panama.  yup.  

Once we were living in a diverse apartment complex and he was outside talking to some of the other kids when on of the moms walked by (she was black) stopped, grabbed his hair and said, "ooh, baby yo' black is showin'".

another wedding pic - dancing with his aunt (my sis - see the hair?) at my daughter's wedding.

Had enough yet?

Oh, There's more!

and I'm beginning to feel better, so 

suffer along. ;)

 Will with his niece.  she was 6.1 pounds, dropped down to 5 lbs when she came home from hospital.  Babies always drop weight.  We had to buy premie clothes for her, though she was full term - or within two weeks of full term.

 Here, she's being read to by her uncle.  She's about four months old, and already paying attention when being read to.  She still likes to be read t0.  when she spends the night, I read at LEAST three books before bed.  sometimes four.  She also will read to me now.  learned how to read in Kindergarten. :)

 This is oldest son and youngest son - same texture of hair and facial hair.  only the oldes son keeps his hair short now, for ease.  This is about five years ago - 2008

they're playing darts

 Will with a brave snake.  Or is that a snake with a brave Will?

When my son abandoned me moved to Boston, he already had a job lined up.... had a formalizing interview and was put to work within a week.

Wow.  Way to go.  That's the same drive that made him decide to play drums, and end up performing in public within a year and a half.

Amazing.

He's extremely happy here - because even though he left his family, abandoned his mom, and moved across country - which might as well be halfway across the world - he had a very good reason.

His girlfriend had moved there and he couldn't stand being apart from her.  Took about three months for him to make up his mind.

And now he's there, living through bombings, neighborhood lockdowns, and was recently cut off by a car, causing him to hit the curb from his bike and breaking his wrist.

He has been off work for a week, and is not enjoying it. 

though he did run some sort of 5k race, or something that people did there last week.

exciting life, for my boy

I feel a little better now.  Ever miss someone so much you don't even have the will to call them?

That's how I was feeling - 

I like having all my kids around me, though they're grown.

I've got this feeling that they're all going to end up living far away, and that bugs me....

Can't hold them back.

But I'll try to just be proud of him and not let myself get too down about things.

We might be able to see him Christmas after next.

two years...  okay, now I'm feeling bad again.

haha

Good thing my grandkids live in town!

:)

 

(by the way - grandkids - please respect their privacy - haha, then I post this. Gotta do a granma brag, though)

This was part of our fun day at the beach the other day.

Then we had a few days of rain (which might have played a part in my blues.  it definitely made for a painful four days {more painful than normal, that is}).

I'm hoping we can grab the kids and go again to the beach.  That was fun, and I loved having them together in the car, singing together, and then chasing the waves - or rather, running away from the waves. :)