Some Advice from Durse

Durse (Kristin Mathers, my cousin) felt compelled to share some appreciated advice from her perspective:

Kelli shared the address of your Sami blog with me.....I hope you don't mind. I need to tell you that I REALLY enjoy it and couldn't be happier for all of you. I have felt these exact emotions but just wasn't eloquent enough to put it into words. I know you mentioned that you don't necessarily want advice, but I can't help but give you this little tidbit. This past weekend, I was going through some old pictures of the kids in preparation for Erin's graduation party in May. I have never been so sick in my life. I can't even remember so much of their childhood and I am panicky that it's almost over. My main regret is that I didn't spend as much time with them as I could have. Did it really matter whether the house was clean or not, or that their toys weren't picked up? God, NO. Since I was only 21 when Erin was born, I think I just maybe didn't have the luxury of knowing this at the time. Now, I can only wish I had known and try to do better now. I do enjoy both of my kids so much - maybe even more now that they're near adults. It's very easy to just "hang out" with them both and I'm so proud of both of them. One thing that really touches me is how polite and respectful they are to their grandparents. As far as I know, we have never told them they HAVE to be. They just have the decency to know they should be. Anyway, I guess my advice is to spend as much time as possible and to enjoy every second you have with them. It appears you're definitely on the right track in this regard.