Empty doll cradle waiting to be put away
My daughter and her family came for a visit last weekend. Because they live an 8-hour drive away, both parents work, and they have early grade-school kids, their visits are infrequent.
We did a lot of planning and preparation for the weekend, getting beds ready, baking cookies, menu planning, and grocery shopping. Then they arrived and it felt a lot like my head was going to explode. Constant activity, stuff everywhere, cat in hiding, cooking, eating, cleaning up, playing, talking—the full catastrophe.
While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it we do suddenly realize — sometimes with astonishment — how happy we had been. — Nikos Kazantzkis, Zorba the Greek
I had forgotten how busy the years of child rearing can be. And I had forgotten how noisy life can be with seven people in the house. Sometimes in the midst of all the bustle I stopped and soaked in the sounds, smiled at the incessant movement of a 6 year old and 8 year old, and savored the hugs and smiles.
Remains of the Day
Then, all too soon, they packed up and went home—back to work, kids starting school, and ordinary life.
The cat came out of hiding but didn’t stop looking over her shoulder for a full day. I went back to bed to catch up on sleep after their early morning departure.
I wished that I had been more present, patient, and grandmotherly while they were here. And then I realized that I was a good enough grannie and my fantasies of being the kind of grandmother my own grandmother was do not fit who I am.
How simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else. And all that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart.
Later I walked through the quiet, empty rooms with a mingled sense of sadness and relief. And I couldn’t help picking up the camera to photograph the reminders of our full, busy weekend. Savor each moment my friends. Life is not a dress rehearsal.
May you walk in beauty.
Sheets, pillows, and blankets waiting to be laundered and put away
Expanded dining room table looks empty and lonely
Reminders of a fun time at the yarn store with both my daughters
Way too many left-over bananas
The last dirty dishes from the weekend – lots of plastic stuff for the kids to use
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