It’s been awhile since I’ve written. Not because I haven’t wanted to, just because we were gone. A family vacation at the beach for a week.
Gone.
Maybe an escape. Maybe just time to rest. Gone none-the-less.
We swam in the ocean, hunted for sea shells, built sand castles, played in the pool, licked melting ice cream cones until we were sticky and then swam some more. Not much else on the agenda. I tried to train my mind that it was okay to not have a schedule, take a nap in the middle of the day, read a book from cover to cover, eat lunch on a patio. Rest.
Madelynn loved using her life jacket in the pool and then graduated to using a Styrofoam noodle to help her float. Delighted she announced, "I swimming, guys! Look! I swimming!" Her dimples told us how pleased she was.
Walking backwards at the airport, while waiting for our connecting flight home from Charlotte, North Carolina, Jordan asked, “Mom, do you like to walk backwards?”
I smiled at the perplexity of this question thinking I have been walking backwards for over two years now.
He then asked, “Mom, do you know how to walk backwards?”
I let my laugh out loud. Jordan giggled, too. Turning around, he placed his soft, smooth hand inside my palm as we people-watched those coming and going in the airport. I noticed that many others had that gone look as they searched for gates to take them home.
Jordan interjected with his own thought, “I can’t wait to go home and tell everyone about my vacation.”
“You liked it?” I asked.
He nodded. Satisfied.
Then I knew. Sometimes being gone is the best place to be. But, then again, so is coming home.
