Somebody to Love

A lovely weekend was spent with my family.  They drove 800 miles, departing at 9pm from El Paso and arriving at 10am.  I still don’t know to this day how they can manage a 13 hour drive, and sometimes much longer, but I am ever grateful for their endless love & support.  When they arrived, I was still at work, so they had a nice 3 hour break until I dragged them everywhere in Dallas on Friday.

We did our usual things this weekend but with a slight twist.  If time permitted, I would love to show them so many different places in Dallas, but we still had a great time together.  On Friday, we started out with a late lunch at a Korean restaurant.  We loved it because there was hardly anyone there, and we felt like we had the entire space to ourselves.

And then, I took my parents to the Dallas Galleria Mall, which they never been.   I just wanted to show them how massive the place is.  I loved seeing their smiles, especially when they found out about the ice rink.  Although we didn’t actually skate, we enjoyed observing kids while sipping our coffee.  We walked around all floors of the mall and purchased a couple of items along the way.  It was a happy walking day in a building with nice A/C.  It was an excellent idea for a hangout on a volcano-like heat  :)

We ended our Dallas exploration with a visit to SMU, where I recently finished my internship.  I showed them all the different buildings, my favorite driveways, places I walked to everyday just because I wanted to, and the building I worked at.  We talked about how happy I am about making this decision in my life, that I prefer to work in a university and helping students grow.  I could tell they were extremely happy for me and where I am in life.  It made me proud knowing that I could be a source of happiness to them.   Summer school was over and it was in late afternoon, so there were no students or staff, and it was just so perfect to walk around the campus enjoying the beauty and peacefulness of this school.

We had a late start on Saturday, but we were perfectly content with the brunch my mom made,  followed by a cup of coffee & coffee cake.  We spent two hours in the living room talking, catching up and laughing about literally nothing.  Apparently I’m a funny person.  After completing some much needed grocery shopping, mainly to fill up my fridge so I can avoid buying food for next two weeks, we headed down to Korea Town to keep our tradition going.  For those that don’t know, we always go to an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ place, called Omi, about 20 miles South from where I live.  That also means food coma is inevitable. 

Could you tell I have the awesomest family ever? Yes, I just made that word up.  As I’m getting older and getting used to living on my own, I’ve come to realize more & more each day how important it is to have the family and loved ones around.  Being with them really re-energizes me and washes away any kind of loneliness or negativity I might have had in life.  Life can sometimes be a non-stop, 200 mile/hour car chase, but it’s enlightening to know that family can slow you down in a good way and put you everything back in perspective.  I’m so appreciative of a family with so much to give…perpetually. 

I absolutely love my family, love my life and love to know how lucky I am.

I hope you feel this way often, too.  Life seems too short to not realize this enough.