In honor of my parents coming to visit me, this week’s post is inspired by my family!

I’m not sure when it happened, but one day I woke up and realized that for the rest of my life, I will spend more time away from my childhood home, than in it. What?! How could this be? I’m not a real grown up yet! That two story home tucked in the suburbs of Katy, Texas has become a place to go visit holidays, and maybe a few weeks scattered in between. Coming home is no longer coming “home” to me, and frankly, that makes me sad.

All of those days my brother and I fought relentlessly, waiting for my mother to get home from work. Nights spent riding blankets down the stairs. Countless hours of Crash Bandicoot, throwing baseballs, and playing basketball in the driveway until the sun went down. The sounds of sports radio or television were always in the background, and my picky eater of a little brother always had chicken nuggets to snack on. Fire pit nights, early camping mornings, and baseball tournament weekends.

All of the sudden your childhood is behind you. Your high school friends are graduating and getting real jobs, and adulthood is staring you down.

I am very lucky to have come from a loving and supportive family. I have never once doubted that they were proud of me, or that they would support me in whatever decision I made, which I have learned is not something every child receives growing up. So even when I am 11 hours away and three states over, I know that they will do anything in their power to help me, because they always have.

So this week, remember to text your mother back, or call your grandma. Tell them that you love them, and hug them if you can, because no matter how they influenced you, you wouldn’t be where you are today without them.

-L