aw, hugs!

Just kidding. Unless virtual hugs count?

Today I realised just how much I miss my family, especially when I started talking to dad. It sucks that he's unable to work and cooped up all day, and it just made me wish I could visit him more often. I kinda feel guilty about the fact I'm going to see mum this weekend (I know I shouldn't, it's been organised for ages to coincide with my sister's and stepdad's birthdays) but by the same token, I need my mummy. Deep down, a girl really needs her mummy. Or her sister, either way a gal needs oestrogen fuelled conversation.

I think my dad missed out on a lot of me growing up, just like I missed out on having my dad around. I always used to think of it from a selfish kid's perspective, but now I'm older I'm seeing how hard it must have been for him. So many birthdays he missed because it wasn't during school holidays, all the report cards that he got copies of instead of me bringing them home proudly to show him, all the netball grand finals, the school plays - anything that wasn't a Christmas or Easter event, he missed out on. Except my first period, poor dad got to deal with that one!

How does my dad do it? He's managed to cope with watching most of my life in phonecalls, photos or letters, yet he still manages to give me space to keep growing. If it had've been me, I'd probably have latched on the first opportunity I got and not let go. Not dad. He's actively allowing me room to be social and live my own life, even though (and he'd hate me saying this) he doesn't have much of one himself. He's a strong man.

Thank goodness for Skype, that's all I can say!