Two Days Gone

If I were to write it down, there are really very few times Anthony and I have been apart for overnight trips. With the exception of the three years he spent two weeks away at Graduate Banking School in Wisconsin. (I don't know why I made that the exception, it just is.) Juanita and I travel back and forth for trips to visit once a year for each of us, when possible. By the time it's over, I'm ready to come home.

Anthony and I were making our bed on Saturday and I mentioned needing my robe washed before my trip this week. Stopping me mid-sentence, he asked, "Wait...when are you leaving?" I answered that after I leave the house Monday morning, I wouldn't see them again until Wednesday night. Throwing up a hand, he stopped me and asked me to stop. "Why?!" I wondered why he was acting like it was the first time he'd heard of it. That's when I saw it.

My Beloved tried to shake it off, but I saw it...and I didn't know whether to feel overwhelming love or to make fun of him. I chose the latter. My blue eyed cutie was tearing up at the thought of me leaving. ((Gag. LOL))

My disbelief at this show of emotion was laced with surprise, I thought he'd be glad to be rid of me since I am quite a handful at times. Perhaps he was actually tearing up at the thought of two whole nights of uninterrupted sleep. Or the thought of two nights without my constant yammering about this or that. Or the thought of not having me around to hound the kids about whatever. Or...maybe he will really miss me. The last time I went out of town, we had a strict policy of shutting our door so our cats couldn't invade our bed. By the time I returned, they had claimed their spot at the foot of the bed. He'd missed me so much, he allowed the girls to keep him company so he wouldn't be lonely in our bed. :) You have to know my husband to understand the colossal level of sacrifice that was for him.

But that being said, whenever we are apart for any length of time, we text each other like teenagers forced apart by over protective parents.

Packing for my trip tonight, I started to think of all I would miss here. I'm only gone for two days, but for our tight knit little family that's a long time. I suspect the boys won't miss me much, they are going to be spending their days at their Aunt and Uncle's house on Fort Knox for Spring Break, so they will no doubt be exhausted from fun. :)

I'm going to miss my dinners with Anthony at the kitchen table watching TV on the computer. Miss sitting outside discussing our day while we compete with the kids coming in and out interrupting every two to three minutes. Laying down in bed watching Frazier as we get sleepy. Three kisses before lights out, exchange of "I love you's". Then the morning routine and all it's frenzy.

Of course, there's a lot I've left out. A lot I'll miss. And I guess there are those that think it's silly for me to be this way for a two day trip. It's TWO days. For me, though, it's a good sign. That after 17 years, we can still dread, miss and welcome each other home when we're gone. I'm not ashamed of it. I love my husband and my family. Yeah, we get on each other's nerves, slam doors and bang pots and pans around in agitation sometimes. It doesn't mean that we're weak or that we don't belong together. Our life, everyone's life has it's up turns and down. It's how you handle the in between, how you cherish the ordinary, that really matters. Because the middle, the ordinary every day stuff is what makes those up turns worth celebrating and it's what makes the down turns really worth getting up from. Together.