I travel back to Houston, TX at least once a year to visit my mom. After living there for three years (something I affectionately call “doing time”) and then with annual visits, there is not that “wow” factor of visiting a new location. But then again, there’s something about the familiar that I’m being drawn to more and more these days.
Although my mom doesn’t live in the house where I grew up (that’s thousands of miles away in Pittsburgh) and even though most of the people I knew when I lived in Houston have moved on, I still have regular activities that I do on each visit that make me feel comfortable. Taking a walk with mom and Rio around the neighborhood (that walk has gotten a little slower as Rio is getting older – 13 already!); lunch at the Sweet Tomato: shopping for accessories at Charming Charlie’s; a glass of wine somewhere on Market Street; a drive out to see Grandma’s burial site; a trip to Church. We skipped the trip to Old Town Spring – the quaint village that brings the word “yesteryear” to mind, but I’m sure we’ll hit that up on my next visit.
Its not to say that things haven’t changed. There’s always a new subdivision going up each time I visit and there’s always a new restaurant nearby that we have to try. And although the day is now planned around making it back to the house at 6:00 PM to give Rio her insulin shot (doggy diabetes), the important things stay the same. And the most important “same” is mom. Her smile and excitement to see her only child is a constant that defines my visits more than anything else.
Thankfully she’s in good health and in good spirits and always up for a trip to the wine bar…provided church is on the agenda as well.
It was a good, relaxing, comfortable trip and I look forward to the next return to the Familiar.
