It’s not too often that I get too terribly homesick. I always manage to keep myself so busy that I don’t have the time to stop and think about what I might be missing at home.

But this week, the Gulf Coast seemed much farther away than a little under 200 miles.

I remember that it wasn’t too long ago when my mom would call to give me the dinner menu at the Dembrun house and within less than five minutes, I could be eating hamburger steaks and mashed potatoes or spaghetti and garden salad.

And two weeks ago, my first nephew, Dalton, was born. Although I wasn’t able to be there the first hour of his life, I did manage to hold him before he was an entire day old.

That day I was also able to see my grandmother. I spent a couple of hours with her and my parents, eating homemade vegetable soup and hush puppies while they read stories I had written for The Greenville Advocate and then praised me for my hard work.

We talked about the grandchildren, my cousins, all of whom are younger than I and are quickly growing up. My brother Matthew is now off to college, and my cousin Jeremy, who is about the same age, is getting married on October 11. My cousin Melissa now has two children, one of who was born only a few weeks ago, and the other I barely recognize every time I see her as she is growing so fast.

I miss my dad and stepmother, too. Last Wednesday, I received the news that Greg, who my stepmother donated a kidney to in August, passed away that morning. Although the kidney was fully functioning, he had a heart attack. Only a couple of weeks before, he lost his grandmother.

That day, I really missed home.

But, when I lived in Baldwin County, I never appreciated the fact that within 20 minutes I could be at any one of my relatives’ homes, chatting, eating good food and laughing about times now gone.

Although I have lived all over, my family is always with me, but it took a little growing up to find out how important they really are. So today, when I head to Mobile, I’m going to enjoy my day with my family. I am going to take pictures in my mind of their smiles and hold close to my heart the fact that no matter how far away I am, they are still with me.