we all return
Home again. A storm ripped through the country and all my exams got postponed, so I'm here a few days earlier than I should've been. Surprisingly, the bus ride back was one of the fastest I've ever had since I started college: I unintentionally skipped the endless traffic jams of city folk rushing back to their homes and their dead for All Saints' Day.
The rest of my giant clan is coming back, too (and probably getting stuck in those traffic jams). Soon the house will be full, but for now, I have a few days with just my parents and grandmother and cousins popping in and out.
It's always so interesting to me how All Saints' Day is guaranteed to bring the entire family together every year, in ways not even Christmas or not-a-milestone-age birthdays can do. Everyone has their own little bubbles of family to spend those with, but All Saints' Day is different. We all return to this house, this cemetery, this cluster of tombs.