One year ago this evening I posted the above photo and labeled it: "Flying home for the night." I got four nice comments from a niece, my daughter, a cousin and my sister-in-law.
Two years ago I was fighting the worst allergies I've ever had. My eyes were so red and swollen. I'd post that picture again, but it is too ugly. My daughter commented "I think you planted a subliminal suggestion -- my eyes are SO ITCHY today!"
Six years ago I posted: "Just looked at the Feb pictures of Austin & Maya on shutterfly. He is growing so fast and she is just a little doll - so pretty." Austin and Maya are the grandchildren of my younger brother. Since then, another little girl, Keira, has joined them. Maya is the only one of the three I have ever seen in person. I hope to see the two younger ones someday. In the meantime, I save all the pictures I can of them from Facebook.
Of the four comments I received on that top photo, the one that meant the most to me was the one from my sister-in-law, Susan. There are two reasons: 1) she doesn't post much on Facebook and 2) I will probably never see her enough to really get to know her well.
Mom was the glue that held our family together. Without her, we no longer gather for birthdays, holidays or because some family member is 'home' from a distance.
Rather than being maudlin (where it feels like I'm going with this), I will remind myself (as I often do) of those great-great grandparents of mine who left Ireland and England to come to America and never saw their families again; who only had a few letters which took months to reach them. I am lucky to have instant communication at my finger tips and photos of those little ones even if I don't get to see them in person. And Facebook's feature, reminding me of what happened, On This Day.
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