Family: Dos Svidania

We've had a crowded house here for a while, now, although crowded doesn't really describe it very well because this house is, thankfully, a pretty spacious one.  Today, however, my wife's mother and grandmother are heading home, flying back to Ukraine.  I have mixed feelings about it.  First and foremost, and I suspect understandably, I look forward to it.  My patience and ability to withstand a situation such as living with one's relatives, be they in-laws or not, is -- and perhaps I say it with an air of conceitedness -- a bit stronger than most.  But I'm a pretty laid-back type of personality; not much bothers me as Psalm 5:22 helps me get to sleep at night.  But getting back to the original point, it will be nice to have the house alone to our family, for once.  It hasn't been just us since just before our daughter was born, so yeah - I look forward to it.

On the other hand, however, I don't envy them the trip they have to take nor the time they'll spend again in Ukraine.  While certainly a worthwhile country to visit once or twice, it is - in my opinion - certainly not a comfortable place to make a home in.  But I won't turn this into a rant against living conditions in Ukraine.  It's just difficult to live there, and they'll be apart from (pretty much) their only family in the world.  I wish there were viable alternatives.  Ideally, I wish they could stay in America, yet in their own apartment that's not too close, but not too far.