Hanging Paintings and Listening to Stories

Today there will be more than one blog posted.
Right now I'm at my mother-in-law's place while my Dad hangs paintings for her.  She had trouble with the drawers of the file cabinet and he fixed it.
Think back about 12months ago...  My husband was getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan and Abuelita's home was full of boxes because she had just moved into her new house and was beginning her new life in Oregon.  The house only had aisles to walk between the boxes and some of the kitchen was together and some of the bedroom.  Her bed was built, her dresser was placed where she wanted it, and the rest of the house was filled with all of her furniture.  Trying to move a four-bedroom house in the tropics to a two-bedroom house in Oregon was more of a challenge than you might think.  Her whole world existed there. 
Little by little, the boxes were moved and unpacked.  Dad moved some, the landscape boys moved some and the rest were un-boxed and articles unpacked and placed in their new location.  Now the whole house (with the exception of a few boxes of clothing in the garage) are unboxed and it looks like a real family lives here.  It's a warm and inviting house.
While my Dad was hanging pictures, I was listening to the stories of where the painting were purchased or (in some cases) commissioned. I love the ones that are of Puerto Rico.  They remind me of the tropics.  I miss the sun and the warm wind and the humidity.  The way the storms would roll over the island was amazing.  We were at the beach in Isle Verde and we could see the storm coming and within a few minutes - it passed.
With Christopher's return, hanging the pictures will again become his responsibility.  Chris and Sarah will come over during the weekend and he will fix stuff that needs to be fixed, move what needs to be moved, and translate what she needs translated.  It is a comfortable routine for both of them.  I look forward to the return of this routine.