missing you

This morning I was missing my sister Carrie. Earlier this week it was the Culp boys. Sunday it was little Miss Ada Joy. I used to believe if I was missing people I was not living in the present. I was not content. Of course, it oddly only applied to when I lived overseas. And it always came with a heavy load of guilt. But I don’t really see it that way anymore. I’m living life here – even if I am thousands of miles away. I’m seeing and experiencing all that is around me. I’m in the present. But I still miss my friends. My family. They’re in my present too – just not in the same way as if I was at home. Sometimes they are in a broken connection on my computer screen. :-) It is difficult. This morning I was walking to work carrying my tall Starbucks coffee mug and was reminded of when my sister would come over on the weekends and we’d walk the Grand Avenue and Highland Park neighborhoods of St. Paul – with our Starbucks coffee mugs filled with warm sugary brew checking out cute houses and being at awe of what season was changing. My coffee mug was empty this morning – I was still searching for my hot brew. But the weather was nice. It was sunny, breezy, the birds were singing. And I am in Africa! So I cannot be sad. But I do hope that every once in a while my family misses me too. :-)