head> Happy Hayes Family: My Visit With Val

Happy Hayes Family

Friday, August 17, 2007

My Visit With Val


My cousin, Val, came to Illinois for the second half of July. Ahhh, the bliss of two whole weeks of cousin time. Val was here to interview our Grandma Marian to obtain her oral history. Val is working on her senior thesis. I know that she has wanted to interview Grandma Marian for a LONG time, and it finally came to fruition.

Val stayed with us, so we had our mornings together before she left to go interview Grandpa and Grandma Marian. We spent the time drinking coffee, checking e-mail, writing blog entries, and chit-chatting, while sitting across from each other at the dining room table with our laptops. Val even IMed me once to be silly. I wish I had a picture of that, but it became so normal that I didn't even think about needing a picture of it.

I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend with her, and was very sad to have her leave. We were buoyed by the fact the two weeks after her departure, we would see each other again at a family reunion. Well, we saw each other this past weekend at our family reunion, but that time drew too quickly to a close, and now we have parted ways indefinitely. But we have gmail, IM, and blogging to keep in touch, so we will have to be diligent about it. We have IMed several times this week, and hit and miss a few more times. Not too shabby! I miss ya, Girl!

Val fit in so well with our family. She bonded with my kids and gave Andrew a cute nickname. She knew where to step in and help out instinctively, and just did it. She wasn't irritated or put off by the boys. Hopefully the futon was comfortable enough for her, and she'll want to come back again some day. We had fun celebrating her birthday, and enjoyed a number of family meals with my parents and our grandparents. Val's younger brother, Jon, came in from the suburbs six times, I think, while she was here. I even got to play "Hand & Foot" (a card game) for the second time this year. The last night Val was here, Jon came out to have dinner and pick her up. Somehow we ended up discussing games, and Jon was up for a game of "Hand & Foot." The last few years, I've only played the game once each summer when we are in Minnesota with Chris' aunt and grandma, so I was super excited. We played, which took quite a while, and then we ended up chatting for quite a while after that, and then we did the whole Minnesota good-bye for another while.

I think that Val and I forged a very deep bond as adults. We've had limited opportunities to spend extended periods of time together, so this was really special. It's impossible to put into words what Val's time here means to me, but let's just say that it was great, memorable, thought-provoking, and fun.

I appreciate you, Val, and hope you can come back again soon! I know, I know...come back as soon as you can!

P.S. Did I mention that she's making TWO quilts for me? She had started the first one before she came, and then she came up with the second one while she was shopping in a big quilt store in the Chicago area. In the time between her visit and the family reunion she put together the two quilt tops - one for my bed and one for a throw. They are both beautiful and have PURPLE in them, which happens to be my favorite color, and I think that Val is pretty fond of it too! When we arrived at the hotel in Iowa for the reunion, she met me in the lobby and took me to her room where she had both quilts laid out on the bed. It was so cute and such a surprise. She had e-mailed me pictures of the one as she was working on it, but the progress on the second one was a total shock.
posted by Robin Hayes, 6:12 PM

1 Comments:

You're so sweet. Also, you're my favorite. Also also, I hope we can get together again soon.

LOVE YOU!
commented by Blogger vw bug, 8:21 AM  

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