chicago.

I got back from chicago late last night- 11:45pm to be exact. My uncle passed away last wednesday, and i was lucky enough to be able to head out there for the wake and funeral- one of the benefits of not really working. It was definitely one of those mixed emotion situations. On one hand, it was incredibly sad, especially every time i looked at one of my cousins or their young children. On the other hand, it was so great to see everyone. We realized that it had been over three years since i'd seen any of my first cousins (there are four of them, three with spouses), and four and a half years since i'd seen their kids (eleven of them- my first cousins once removed). They didn't make it to our big family reunion in july due to various scheduling issues, and everyone was so much older. In a strange way, i feel closer to my cousins kids than my cousins. I think it's because they're closer in age to me. Either that, or just because i act so young for my age! I have tons of great pictures- many taken by 7yr old r. I'll post those in the next day or two.