Mommy Blog

Lessons From Leander

in Thoughtful Thursdays on October 13, 2016

I grew up just outside of Austin, Texas.  I now live in Houston, Texas, and my name is Dallas…feel free to insert your own joke here ____.  I figure that I just about have most of the major metroplexes covered.  Why am I telling you this?

I grew up just outside of Austin.

If I told you I lived in a little-bitty town called Leander, Texas…there are only five people reading this blog who would actually know where that is…and I am related to all five of them!  When I was very young, my mother and I moved to from San Antonio, Texas to Leander, Texas to be with family.

It was the best thing Mother and I ever have done.

For several of my formative years, it was just Mother and I.  Just the two of us.  Looking back over the years since I had my own kids, I don’t know how she did it.  When she moved us out to Leander to be surrounded by multi-generational-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, my life-long-learning really began to take shape.

I was exposed to different family dynamics, and love on every level.  My great-grandmother, whom we lived with, taught me how to read before I entered kindergarten.  My Uncle Richard showed me strength and discipline in place of the father who had abandoned me.  My Mimi and Papa simply showed me unconditional love and kindness; while my mother was steadfast, constant, and never wavering in her vigilance to provide me a normal and happy childhood.

It is from those years spent in Leander that I have built my own home around.  Watching my grandparents treat each other with mutual love and respect has greatly influenced the way I treat my husband.  I also watched my Mimi compassionately care for my great-grandparents as they aged…who, incidentally happened to be her in-laws.

Mimi would spend hours on end sitting beside hospital beds, and driving to and from nursing homes to check in and make sure everything was as it should be.  Mimi was kind to a fault.  She fussed and fretted over her in-laws.  And when they passed, it was she who bore the brunt of the arrangements, in order to remove some of that burden from her grieving husband.

I watched all of this.

I have tried to implement these Lessons from Leander now as I deal with my aging in-laws.  My father-in-law has recently had some serious health issues.  I have spent many hours simply sitting by his hospital bed.  This often confuses my sweet husband.  He doesn’t understand the need to just sit.  I think that no one should have to be in the hospital alone.  Sometimes just the mere presence of another person is enough comfort to make it through the day.

My Mimi left a legacy behind her without even knowing what she was doing.  My mother has diligently cared for her extended family.  My aunt has done the same thing for my great-grandmother.  I hope to leave that same gift for my children.

So tell me, what lessons have you learned?  And what will you leave behind?

Many of you will see this picture sideways…I have no words! Technology!!

Here’s hoping your day is filled with LOVE!

-Dallas