We’ve had a busy last few weeks that started with finally getting on an airplane again. You inherited my excitement for air travel and counted down the days like I did. You also counted down the takeoff from 10 down 1 about 28 times over on the plane before we actually took off. You are very good at counting backwards, just not knowing when to time your start.
We flew to Indiana for a long overdue visit (Thanks a lot, COVID) to see Grammie and Popa. We flew in and out of Indianapolis with original plans to spend a night or two there and explore the city. We decided best to just get to Fort Wayne but enjoyed the scenic route by road that included a pit stop at Ivanhoes diner near evangelical Taylor University, in Upland, Indiana. That diner had 100 different ice cream sundae and milkshake options! It was tough for all of us to focus on dinner before dessert, but I have to say they had a great tenderloin sandwich, too. It’s all so deliciously Midwest.
This was an important visit not just because of the lapsed time but because of the tough battle Grammie has with a type of lung cancer. Our visit was so important to give her a little boost near the end of her radiation and chemotherapy treatment. Your Grammie is one tough cookie going through this 10 years after a first cancer treatment. Grammie definitely looked different from the last time we saw her. Her head was shaved, though she often wore a hat, and her skin looked dark and tan as some reaction to the treatment. We said she looked like she just got back from Mexico, not chemo.
Grammie was tired and slept a lot through the day, but you and your brother kept spirits high and entertained us with your hummingbird energy. I also appreciated how, despite the time and distance, you both quickly got back into a comfortable groove with Grammie and Popa, just being your silly selves. The copious amounts of candy between visits to the Grabill stores and a front yard Easter egg hunt didn’t hurt.
It took a litlle longer for you to warm up to your Uncle Ty, Aunt Amber, Abby and soaring-tall Mason. Eventually you wanted to spend a lot of time with Abby. No kid can resist a super cool high school-aged cousin. You two spent a lot of the day building a miniture village out of yard plants.
I am also thankful that Grammie and Popa watched you two so Mom and I could take some long runs and walks on the flat, endless Indiana farm roads. There is something pretty special about that place, or it’s just special to me because that’s where your Mom grew up.
We also got to see your two great-grandmothers, Barbara and Chicken. Because we don’t video call them or see them as much as you do Grammie and Popa, you were a lot more shy around them. Again, I appreciated you “acting like a big kid” by answering questions and taking some photos with them. These are important meetings with great-grandparents who get to enjoy knowing you are part of their legacy and have a lifetime of perspective for where you came from and what may be ahead. We’re all part of the same line.
I remember a couple of instances seeing my Nonno Enzo later in his life and still early in mine. We didn’t have a close relationsihp due to the infrequency but I could tell the meetings were really important to my parents, and I answered questions about school and soccer and took photos. While those felt a little bit like forced fun at the time, I can also see the importance of those connections looking back, simply because generations always stretch too far away too quickly by time and space.
After our visits and goodbyes, we flew home and got back into our routine between the sold Tacoma house and condo layover. Your Mom and I grinded the last of our moves out of the house and into a storage unit, constantly reminding ourselves that we should never move again. We left you and Matteo to Grandma Vicki for some combinatin of days so we could get it done. You’ll be helpful movers in another decade, just not this one.
To change scenery again, we spent the last few days at Bridger and Bennett’s house while they are on a family vacation in Hawaii. You two are getting a kick out of playing with all of their toys in their very large house and yard, including a big trampoline. Aunt Courtney also has the house overloaded with candy that no Mottola at any age can ever resist. You walked into the room I was working in yesterday with a sketch of Matteo dashing upstairs with stolen candy. It’s as if you’re a courtroom illustrator documenting the series of testimony in near real time. Or that’s just a really creative way to tattle.
I don’t mind the sugar overload. We are pretty flexible famiy and you are “go with the flow” kids but these weeks and months of transition simply aren’t easy all the time. We aren’t meant to float around. We’re meant to be rooted and grow. Being less than a couple miles a way from our next house, I see our ability to get rooted again literally around the corner. Then it’s back to protein and vegetable diets. Enjoy the candy surplus while it lasts.
Love, Dad