The kids and I took off for a trip to Salt Lake City to visit family. Our family relationships have gotten pretty confusing – I’m staying with the grandchildren of my dad’s ex-wife. Are they cousins, or not? I’ve watched them grow up. I say yes.
Even more complicated is my brother’s girlfriend and her children. They’re living together but not married. I don’t know them well enough to call them cousins.
The exact specifics of familial relationships aside, it’s been a great visit so far. We went out to dinner with my dad and my brother’s family, and we’ve spent the morning with my dad’s ex-wife, my stepsister and her husband and kids, opening presents, playing the piano and singing, and drinking coffee. The condominium itself is 3,000 feet, which would be a mansion in Seattle. It feels vast. This afternoon we’ll go visit my dad again, and I’ll spend tomorrow with my brother and his family, and then go home Tuesday.
Airport security was surprisingly easy. I expected to have the family patted down, because no way am I exposing my kids to unnecessary radiation, but we just went through the metal detector and that was that. Is it the same in other airports, I wonder? Is the FAA backing down under pressure? And I wonder what it will be like in the Salt Lake airport. It takes about twenty-four hours or more to take a bus or train to Salt Lake City, but I am seriously considering that for next time.
Kristin Ann King 