as all good things must...

Alas, my Midwest adventures have come to an end.

I'm flying back to sweltering California in a few hours. I will definitely miss hanging out and goofing around with my cousin Marie, my Ninang's good cooking and funny stories from her teenage years, heck, even Tito Pappy's ka-kulitan :p *sigh*

But I chose to not extend my stay here and go back, and in a way, I'm happy I did. I missed my mom, and I was feeling this extreme urgency to bond with her in the time I'm here. I never really had that growing up and with new additions to our family, I fear that I would have even less time with her than I already have.

All good things must come to an end. This is definitely one of those. And though it saddens me a little, I'm so thankful for everything--and I mean EVERYTHING--I've seen, heard, felt, etc. during my trip. In a way, I feel like I've been given access to things not everyone has the means to see and do. And in a way, I do feel like things are starting to look up.