i had my nephew, Alec, visiting last weekend. we had a blast! went to a tigers vs. red sox game (which of course he loved because his beloved red sox won), the zoo, a mud hens game, the arboretum, etc. i had even more planned, but once he discovered all the games in the basement (and the willingness of my other house guests to play with him), that's mostly what he wanted to do above all else.
i can't remember whether i mentioned the pool table or how it came up, but as soon as Alec learned there was a pool table, foosball, air hockey, ping pong and darts downstairs, he was hooked. said he wanted to live in my basement forever. between pool and chicken tracks, we never even got to all the board games or ping pong.
his visit prompted a few thoughts along the way for me. first, i started thinking "am i sure i want to leave all this?" all this opportunity to host people, and i hardly have anyone over. if i ever want to in my future life (presumably without so much "stuff"), i might look back on these past years as wasting the chance to really have folks over and play. i've accomplished and accumulated a lot over the years. so much of it i probably wouldn't buy, now in a different kind of mindset. will i miss this part of my life when everything changes?
i also had to think, of course, about all the "stuff." conspicuous consumption, one could say. i was never much of a spender. i've saved money from my very first paycheck and i don't buy a lot of "things." i don't spend much money on myself at all, but in the course of 20-plus years, i have accumulated some stuff. like the pool table and air hockey/foosball table and the library shelves upstairs that are so beautiful and that i always wanted. now it seems to add up to a lot. i vacillate between selling it all, down to nothing, and keeping some of it, with "some" being a constantly changing variable. i don't know that i'll ever get to this level of stuff again, for a variety of reasons. i've had it, but don't really need it. i expect to get down to living much more simply and staying that way, at least mostly. and i don't expect i'll ever have as much discretionary income again once i leave this job. that's certainly not a bad thing, but it gives me a real mixture of feelings as i look around and realize i have to decide what to do with each and every thing.
the other thing that came to mind with Alec's visit is the reality of moving away. he kept saying he wanted to come back and visit and wanted to get his parents to bring him and his sister here for a visit. i went along with it, of course. i would love for him and them to visit, but the reality is that, unless something happens in the next couple months, that chance will have passed. once the whole peace corps thing gets into full swing, there will be no more visits and ultimately no more house in michigan. not only will the house and things be gone, but i will be gone. and i don't know whether i'll be back here, or somewhere else. it was strange to go along with his visions of visiting again when i knew it might all be different before he gets that chance.
it was a great visit and we had a blast. he ate junk and drank soda the whole time, we played games and saw sights and hiked, and basically did whatever a 14-year-old wanted to do while he was here. there will undoubtedly be other exciting times and visits. just not here, in these circumstances.
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