Okay, yeah, so last night when I set the table for dinner, I instinctively set a place for TheBoy. Never mind that we'd only left him an hour previous; habit and routine took over - set the table, set four places. We had a laugh - even BabyGirl G., who had been quietly missing her brother while swearing up and down she didn't - laughed at her silly ol' dad who didn't remember dropping her brother off.
I thought about the other parents who had empty places at the table. Parents whose kids are sick. Parents whose kids are off fighting wars. Parents whose kids have gone off to college. They all face the empty spot at the table, just like I did last night. Mine's only temporary; in the blink of an eye he'll be back torturing his sister with odd faces, rude noises, name-calling and the like. Others are not so fortunate - their kids will have to get better, or finish their tour, or worse...
Later on last night it happened again. I had tucked BabyGirl G. into bed, kissed her on the forehead and bade her goodnight. As I left her room, I glanced down the hall at the open doorway in TheBoy's room. I started off down the hall, fully prepared to give him hell for not closing his door before bed when I caught myself. I went over, glanced around his messy room, and shut the door carefully, lest I disrupt the elaborate ruse I've constructed where I pretend I don't miss him so bad it hurts me inside.
I'm a big softie. After work today I'm driving up to the Scout Reservation so I can have dinner with TheBoy in the Dining Hall. It's not normally done - typically the parents drop their kids off on Sunday (Monday this time because of the holiday) and pick them up on Wednesday (Thursday, again, because of the holiday). This being TheBoy's first time away, combined with my Committee Chair being his Unit Leader (as well as trying to recruit me to be a Unit Leader next year), means I get a special treat of a mass-cooked spaghetti dinner in a hall full of rambunctious 9-10-11 year olds.
I can't wait.
That is all.
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2 comments:
Awwww . . .
They grow up so fast.
Hear ya.
Both of our boyz were gone last week to Montana. The longest and farthest they have been away from us.
And even though they are 17 and 15, they are still our "little'"(can 6'2"be considered little?) boyz and I missed them terribly. And we had no contact with them from when they left Saturday morning until they were on there way home Friday night.
So yeah I can imagine how you feel.
Don't embarrass him!!!
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