Being with them is easy. Every combination of us works, in that we all get along equally well and talk a lot. But we also have long stretches of silence sometimes and that is easy and comfortable too. After lunch, they came back to our house and stayed for 8 more hours. We ended up ordering sushi for dinner. We had coffee and fresh banana cake. We had wine on the deck. But Henry also spent some of his time downstairs on our PS4 playing video games. Ruth spent some of her time reading on her phone. I listened to the sermon from our church. This freedom to be together, but not together is what makes hanging out with them easy; we don't entertain them the whole time. When they are over, I am as comfortable to do whatever I want as I would be if they weren't here at all. That is a big deal for me. I don't think there is anyone else I could say that about. I let them into my house when it's messy. I ask Henry to go to the store for me when we're out of cream. Ruth peels potatoes for dinner sometimes. I have had zoom calls where I disappear upstairs for an hour in the middle of their visit. Yes, they're family, but it's not just that. They are among our closest friends.
We've had some really great conversations about theology and politics and all kinds of different topics. I value their opinions. They're both super knowledgeable about the Bible and well read. Their opinions are thoughtful. Ruth, who is an introvert, will often not answer a question right away because she wants to think about her answer. I appreciate that. Her and I are very similar in a lot of ways, although she's definitely smarter than I am.
It's unfortunate that the entire time that they have been living in Vancouver has been abnormal in that my father was dying, then we were still grieving his death when COVID hit and everything shut down. So, although we have spent a lot of time together, we haven't been able to fully enjoy this time as we could have if things had been "normal". I say this because they are actually leaving next month. This sucks. I totally get why they're going to Finland and knowing them as well as I do, I knew their leaving was inevitable. But, it still sucks. They will leave a huge void in the life our family.
