empty nest again

Well I can breathe again. Sandi has gone home and life is back to normal. Is normal overated? I think maybe. It is quiet and silence can be deafening. A constant reminder that someone is no longer here. That presence everytime you turn around. That person with her Susan Branch gingerbread pajamas that I had given her who would fall asleep on the couch before midnight every night. Our time went by too fast. There was so much we wanted to do other than look up foreign insults in a book in Barnes and Nobles. We didn't have a pork roast. We did have chinese even if we did call the wrong place. I never took you to work to meet "the gang" I did get to try your Iphone and get a high score on Bejeweled Blitz for you. We did find a new saying "schlamshvantz" We bonded with my mother in law Astrid over The "G" spot in Costco and pet names for private parts. We laughed, we ate, we loved. I cried. I miss you and the joy you brought. I wish you were not so far away. Through the years we have had our ups and downs like all families do, but we are family. I know it was not the vacation of your dreams, but you were home and the door will always be open. No, I did not give birth to you, but you are the daughter of my heart and it is not the same without you.