post Russia

The first few days of being home are always hard. It was hard to be back in our apartment, to unpack the suitcases and pull out all the gifts that my parents and my aunt gave us. They brought back memories of just a few days ago when we were still there, but now we were so far away, across the ocean, in a completely different world. To add to all this, the weather turned cold, so even the distraction of being able to be outside was taken away.

What's worse, I kept thinking about my parents, especially my father, coming back to their apartment, which only moments ago was filled with the sound of little feet running, with toys still strewn around the floor, with our tea cups still sitting on the table, reminding them of what had been, but no longer was. With my father's health being the way it is, this might have been the last time we saw each other. This thought only made things harder. I wished I could do something for them, ease their pain somehow. Yet no matter how difficult it is to part, it is still better to have come and left than to never have come. I am just thankful that my aunt didn't have to leave for another few days, so my parents weren't totally alone during those first hardest hours.

We never really transitioned to Russian time, so coming back was much easier, although we all feel tired even several days later. Elijah sleeps in in the mornings, takes long naps, wants to go to bed early, and is still acting tired throughout the day.