Just Appetizers

After 29 years of marriage I am home alone.

Yup, just me.

No pets.

No children.

No husband.

No roommates.

Just me, home alone.

All my adult life I have always had some one home with me.

I can not recall any time where I was home alone.

My seven children are grown and gone.

Hubby decided this month was a great time to go to Africa.

At first I was not thinking about being the house being empty.

Two days before it was time for my husband to leave it hit me…I will have no one in the house but me.

Ok let’s think this through, do you want to stay here?

Then I told myself I owed it to myself to see how this would feel.

Life is about learning and growing.

About 10 days ago, dropped hubby to the airport and came home.

Well, I was not alone.

My youngest daughter in her last year of college was on spring break so she came over the first three days and hung with me.

I thought it was sweet of her to stay with me, when she could go and do her spring break.

Once she left and the house was quiet, I was on my first day alone.

Now the day time I am busy, busy, but at night is when I first felt weird.

When you are accustomed to someone always being there, things feel real empty.

I decided to focus on what I could accomplish in this moment and went to work.

Late nights began to be my norm.

One night I worked right into the early morning.

Now I am not sure if it was the second wind I got at 11pm each night, or just missing my boo.

Either way, I was getting a lot completed being home alone.

This is  not something I would want to get comfortable with, but I can say I had my experience.

There really is some thing to be said about a persons presence.

My middle daughter had been here this week with me for three days.

Now that she is gone, the house seems super quiet and empty.

If I had been home alone for the duration of my husband gone, I would not notice the absence of a presence.

We are created for relationships, conversation and connection.

People really do add more to our life than we realize until they are absent.

It was nice that my different daughters came by to see me this past week.

The presence of each one coming in added something to my life and space.

Being here tonight, writing this blog has made me more aware of how precious time is.

Our time with those we love really is a gift.

I enjoy my space and love time to myself like the next person.

However I would not trade the millions of hours I have had to share my life with so many wonderful people.

Now I am going to say there has been some mornings I came downstairs and smiled really big, because my kitchen was still clean!

We must always celebrate the small things:)

I will end with this…

No matter how much you time a person spends with you, once they are absent you will long for their presence.

My time home alone, is temporary, but for others it may be permanent.

Cherish who is in your space, and how great the moments are when you come together.