Departure

My dad left today. We took him to take the train to Madrid and then he´s going to Argentina in a few days.
We´re already missing him a lot. And when we arrived back home and I went to store away the things that he's leaving here, I found a parcel with a note saying "to be open on September 2. Happy birthday. Dad". I just cried because he left me a present for my birthday!

He´s been with us since the end of March, first in Bristol and then here. He allegedly came to help us with the moving and everything but it was also a visit designed by my sister and us to help him cope with life without my mum (she passed away in December 2005). My dad was completely heartbroken then and we though that it´ll make him feel better to travel a bit and to have something to do. It worked.

As it usually the case, it also worked the other way too, in that we received more that we expected and not only in moral support but in very practical ways, such as with packing all the house in Bristol. He was the rock that was there for me all this months of uncertainty and hard work. I do believe that I couldn't have managed so well without him.

The plan is that he´s going to be a travelling dad. He´ll live half of the year in Argentina mainly with my sister, and the other half here with us. So he´ll be back soon.

"The husband" is in St. Petersburg since Friday and until Sunday, so my son and I are on our own again and without hot water.
So, we´re sad and not too clean.