A return to family connections

Well, it’s been an eventful weekend for sure. I was fortunate enough that my family wanted to come to the Cities and stay the weekend at the hotel directly across the street from my apartment. My sister, mom, grandma, and godmother showed up Friday afternoon to start the “girls’ weekend.” Only thing–when they showed up, I still hadn’t finished my homework. We decided that, since my sister also had schoolwork to finish, we would all walk to Starbucks on campus and spend an hour there so we two could finish our homework while the adults used the time to chat and catch up. It was fun not only because the other “girls” were there, but because I found it fun to watch my sister observe a college campus and know she is about to go to one in less than a year. 

After that, I took them to my favorite Chinese restaurant on campus, Legendary Spice, and watched them struggle to learn how to use chopsticks before giving up and asking for forks. It was quite the sight, but I’m grateful they gave it a chance and tried their best, laughing along the way. They're so cute. 

I also took them to get boba, which is a Taiwanese drink made of milk tea and tapioca pearls. You can customize it and get different flavors, so I got salted caramel; my sister got some flavor she did not like. None of them had tried boba before, so it was hilarious watching all their faces as they took a sip and experienced the extraordinary texture of a tapioca pearl for the first time. It definitely is something to get used to, but I encourage anyone to try it. Once you get past the odd texture, it tastes good. 

Then we got back to the hotel, spent time together and tried to plan what we were going to do on Saturday. Of course they asked for my recommendation, but sadly I came up blank. I couldn’t believe it - I live in Minneapolis and I couldn't even think of anything for us to do. To be honest, there really isn’t anything I do on the weekends or when I have free time because I’m usually tired or don’t have an entire day to go explore or do things.

So we went to bed without a plan. The only “required” task on Saturday was to pick up the birthday cheesecake we had ordered for my grandma’s birthday. So that’s what we did. We drove down to St. Louis Park to Muddy Paws Cheesecake and picked up the delicious box of sugar. Thankfully, the lady there had flyers to an art show that day, so we piled back into the car and went! 

The mall we went to was a cute outdoor outlet mall decorated in garland and ready for Christmas. We ended up buying only one type of thing: plants. I was glad of that; I am becoming a plant person and it’s exciting. Why are succulents so cute, though?

Then Saturday night came, bringing with it the whole reason this weekend happened - the indoor! Every year the University marching band puts on an indoor show (nothing as cool as Waseca though) and this was my third time going. I’ve loved it every time and I’m glad I was able to share the experience with my family. My godmother said she and my grandma even stayed up until one a.m. because they were so hyped from the concert. Adorable. 

Sunday was spent studying and catching up on homework, but overall a great weekend. More and more, I appreciate the time spent with my family. When I moved to college freshman year, I was so ready to be on my own, be independent without needing my family. I went months without seeing them, but to me, I was just being college-normal independent. But now, it’s not that I am not independent, I just learn to appreciate the connections and conversations I have with my family. 

My Determination: “Together, we can do anything - face any foe, and overcome any obstacle.” - Lois Griffin, Family Guy