The other day I got a ton of packages in the mail… you know, to feed my Etsy addiction… getting packages in the mail, feels like Christmas…

But the best package I received that day? The one marked fragile… the one bursting with love…sealed by  tiny hands & with lots of kisses from my nephews & niece… this one definitely trumped all the other packages…

The second I opened it, the tears started rolling down my cheeks… the package had a Halloween project made by my sweet 2 year old nephew… a slue of pictures of all the kids, including the older boys’ school pictures…

Then a hand written letter from my 7 year old nephew, James Reynaldo… this really got the water works going… and for some reason, I couldn’t turn the faucet off…

For awhile, I couldn’t call my sister and the kids because I was just too choked up… living 1,300 miles away from my family always makes this time of year extra difficult… especially not having seen them in 5 months… for me, that’s like 2 years of not seeing them… the letter set it off because over the summer my nephew (which by the way, he’ll always be our little man) worked really hard to improve his handwriting… even as a 1st grader with a lexile level of a 5th grade student, his mama had concerns with his penmanship… so every other night, James would practice his handwriting… and when I read the letter and saw his incredible handwriting — I balled! Completely balled! Just feeling the immense pain of love… and what love does… sometimes, it’s just physically painful… to miss your loved ones… to be far away from your family… and sometimes… you just have to cry it out… that day… in my living room, Michigan package on my lap… I cried… and cried… wanting so bad to play hide and seek with my 3 nephews and niece… and wanting so badly to hug my little man and tell him how pride I was of him & his amazing 2nd grade handwriting (which had no trace of the past writing struggles)… I cried… until, finally, I got it together… I wiped my tears, grabbed my camera, and preceded to document a moment I didn’t want to forget… I didn’t want to forget my nephews 2nd grade handwriting… didn’t want to forget the four rascals still so young… and so little… after taking taking some pictures… I called my sister and the kids…hearing their voices on the other line always makes me feel closer and connected to my family… I felt better…

and of course… this caramel apple helped also… (thanks Perrine)