Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed

The usual rambles begin..

I received some news the other day that made me very happy. This Thanksgiving I will be going to my grandparents in Michigan and during this time we will also be celebrating Christmas since we won't be going there this year. This year for Christmas I'm going to be extremely sad that I won't be able to get anyone presents pretty much considering I'm a poor college student. I guess I'm lucky though because I have the creativity to make something and call it a present, I guess those are the presents that mean the most anyway. To drive to Michigan it's a long 12-15 hour drive that is mostly annoying and time consuming, although I really like it at the same time. It gives me the chance to finally sit and relax for a bit. I end up drawing, listening to music, reading and catching up on sleep (I love sleeping in cars!). This year I am really excited too because since I have a laptop I will be able to mess around with Illustrator and InDesign for finally get some of these designs out of my head. I also love driving through different towns and seeing the different atmospheres and people in them.

I have always wished that my mom's side of the family lived closer, I pretty much only see them one to two times a year and it's really not enough. This past year before I graduated and my family came into town, my grandma had a mild stroke. It was so hard to see her repeating herself and forgetting conversations we had just moments ago. That's just another of the numerous reasons I want to visit them more often, age is a scary thing.. I don't know when I'm going to use them but the thought already brings tears to my eyes. Especially because I've never been one to deal with death well or even funerals. Most of the time I avoid them all together just so I won't have to deal with the pain. I am very fortunate to still have all of my grandparents, well, not technically. I never met my actual grandma and grandpa on my dad's side. His mom died around the time he was seven from lung cancer and so did his dad a couple of years later. Before he died, he remarried and this is who I now know as my grandma since my birth.. and when he died she also remarried and this is now who I call my grandpa. Kind of a weird scenario there. My blood grandpa died right before my dads birthday, I can't even imagine the hurt he felt. He's such a strong person and I am so grateful to have him in my life. I wish I could have met my actual grandma and grandpa though, my dad has always said that I would have loved them and we would have had a lot in common.

I have a feeling this years Halloween is going to be really lame. There's pretty much nothing to do other than follow the number of people who are going to Madison and the cities.. which I would rather not do. I guess it doesn't even matter, I don't have a costume nor have any ideas for one. I will probably just end up hanging out with a few friends like every other year.

Everything in life has still been going well, I have no complaints at all.

Until next time,
Kendell

Don't wish me happiness, I don't expect
to be happy all the time.. it has gotten beyond that
somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a
sense of humor. I will need them all.
-Anne Morrow LIndbergh