Finally, a great weekend

Man. Was it ever fandamntastic to get the hell out of Grand Island for a couple of days. It's been so long that I'd forgotten what it's like. After a coolant fix and a couple of spanky tires, my car was Interstate-ready once more so the kid and I could make the short trek to Lincoln and watch Gary, his nephew Gunter and best friend Swi run in the Lincoln Marathon yesterday.

Gary and Swi often travel around and run marathons but this was Gunter's first and he ended up beating the 'old guys' :) So well done Gunt :)

Here's Gary running towards us:


Gunter, just about to run out of the shot - he's too fast!:


All in all we had a lovely weekend staying at Jo's (Gary's sister) and just hanging out with everyone. Hannah and her friend Anna stopped by and brought a flick called 'The Station Agent' which was a weird, yet strangely gentle and subdued, mellow film to wind down with Saturday night.

Anyway, the thing is that all of these people are so new to me. Jo, Tom, Hannah, Gunter and his wife... It was sort of surreal to go through your whole life with your family and be at ease, and thoroughly comfortable with them all and their quirks and habits, and then later in life find out you've got a whole 'nother family to learn about and get to know. I'm really grateful that everyone I've met so far has been incredible, funny, friendly and generally lovely which has totally made everything easier. And I hope the fact that it takes me a bit longer to open up doesn't put them off.

It's weird because ever since meeting Gary and getting to know him I've wondered how to fit him in my life, and how I'd fit into his. There's guilt actually because of Dad. Nothing overwhelming, but it's there. When I speak about Gary to people I stumble a bit when I explain my relationship to him. Most of me just wants to say 'my dad' but there's a part of me that says 'whoa wait a sec, your dad was Bob and he was a great guy and fab father. Don't replace him.'

But the sensible part of me says 'Don't be stupid. You're not replacing him and you're incredibly lucky to have met Gary - in fact you're incredibly lucky to get to have 2 Dads in your life so just shut up and enjoy it.'

At which point I decide it's best not to continue carrying on conversations with myself and go on about my day :)

Anyway, at the end of the day, Shan and I had a wonderful time this weekend, and both of us are looking forward to getting together with everyone again.

Good times.