Proud Aunt Meg

Last weekend, the kids and I had an opportunity to make a flying trip to Lewistown to watch this sweet girl play in her very first piano recital.  We left church in a hurry, grabbed some Subway to gobble up in the car on the way, and even managed to squeeze in a little play time at Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig's house before it was time to head off to the church for the recital.  The kids all enjoyed the time with their cousins.

Brooke did a fabulous job with her song.  She has just started taking lessons not more than a few months ago, and marched up to the front and played her song like she was fearless.  I was so proud of her and I know her Mommy and Daddy, and Nana and Pap and Freda were as well.

I have to say that I felt like I was a little overwhelmed while sitting in the church as I was quite literally surrounded by all of these people who I knew from high school.  As I thought about it, I thought it only makes sense given the fact that we're all about the same age, which means our kids are all roughly around the same age, and doing all of these things together.  For anyone who has always lived in their own hometowns, I guess this sounds silly.  But I was literally excited/confused/flabbergasted to have a friend from high school sitting directly behind us, one sitting directly in front of us, the parents of another beside us and the shoe store clerk that I recognized as having fit me for one or thirty pairs of Stride Rites, Keds and all the way up to my beloved K-Swiss at Tom Johnson's Shoe Store with the little animal shaped seats that I used to love.  (I have a lot of memories of TJ's apparently-- we must have bought a lot of shoes.)  There were others that I knew I recognized but couldn't for the life of me put a name to their faces.  So I smiled and tried not to stare as I tried to figure out how to approach a conversation if one happened to come up.  You know the kind-- where you talk about general things enough to get through and just hope like heck you get a clue and can finally put all the pieces together.  Libby was kind enough to help me connect the dots after the recital.  There were a lot of "OH YEAH!" and "NOW I remembers" in that conversation.  And then I told her that living in Lewistown and running into all of those people all the time would take some getting used to.  I guess I'm used to some level on anonymity where we live-- where people may know me from what I do professionally, but who don't know anything about the kind of nerd I was in high school (who am I kidding-- I'm still one) or have any connection to those years of my life that I'd probably not be inclined to want to go back and do again. 

We ended our day with a little Gus's Pizza party at the Wray's house...always a treat to be able to enjoy that when we're home.  (It goes on the list with Southside Hoagies, OIP Taco Salads, Angelo's Salads and Bel-Vue Fish and Chips.)  Before we knew it, we were packing up and pointing the Suburban in the direction of home.  These days always seem like such a whirlwind, but I wouldn't miss it.   I want Brooke and Hayden to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I'll always be there for them, no matter what.  Super proud Aunt Meg day, for sure!