A Pleasant Little Interlude

And being open to life's little surprises Week 47 (Year 1)

A few weeks back my older son asked if he could move back home for a couple of weeks, between flat rentals. When he moved out over a year ago, I converted his old bedroom into my writing room and it also became a dumping ground for unwanted items from the rest of the house. Of course we said yes, and I decided it would give me a good reason to sort through the muddles that had accumulated, as well as my jumble of notebooks, piles of books and writing bit and bobs.

And so he came home, putting most of his things in storage, but still with a car load of stuff. We found space for most of it, and the rest he decided he would take to the storage unit at the weekend.

Saturday came along and being at a loose end I offered my services to help him unload the last few items to make space in his car. We drove to his now hometown, about fifteen miles away and stopped at the self storage unit. Grabbing trolleys from the foyer we loaded on the boxes, hoover, duvet and pillows, portable radiator and other household items. He started to pull out reams of dirty bed linen from his boot, which he intended to squash into bin bags to fester over the next few weeks. Instead I offered to take them home and wash them, ensuring that his new chapter would at least begin with a clean, fresh bed.

After everything was safely stowed away and his car almost empty now, he asked where I wanted to eat. I was pleasantly surprised, expecting to go straight home when the deed was done, and was even harbouring two packets of Hula Hoops for a quick snack if needed. ‘I’m not sure,’ I replied, ‘Did you want to get something to takeaway?’

‘No, we can go into town and find something.’

So we parked up, and walked into town finding a lovely little cafe where we had sandwiches and coffee and talked, like grown ups, about his business, his new apartment, and his plans for the future. As I sat there, listening, I realised that my son was no longer a boy, but a proper man, fully fledged and on the verge of making his own nest with his girlfriend. And he was no longer embarrassed to sit and chat with his mum in a crowded cafe in the middle of town, on a busy Saturday afternoon.

My heart soared after experiencing this new dynamic which helped me to see that though our relationship with our children changes as they grow away from us, as long as it is nurtured and we keep talking and helping each other, we can still be as close and have that special bond, just in different ways.

This unexpected revelation reminded me that we need to let life surprise us sometimes and trust that not everything needs to be mapped out or planned. Some things, good things, can just happen.

Thank you for reading.

Jane

Has life thrown you any lovely surprises lately?

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