On the trail
So then a message comes on my mobile. 'Go to the top of the drive and follow the balloons'. So off I go, following balloons that are blowing about in the wind, tied to any available branch, at about 5 metre spaces. When I reach our local hostellry, about 1/2 mile away there are loads of different coloured balloons all tied on the sign outside. This must be the destination. In I go, and there they all are, offspring with partners. Another helium balloon and a pile of cards and pressies! They took me out for lunch. I felt really special, and loved. All the lead up was enough without the meal and the pressies. For me, today, it was true, "It's the thought that counts".
I think for many parents you often feel very much taken for granted. You are always there, you arrange things for them, you very much take second place. When they are little that special hug or kiss feeds your instincts and on you go. As they get older, and particularly when they are teens you often question what is it all about. The rewards are very thin on the ground. Parenthood is now, for me, finding a new and different facet. When they all flew the nest a year ago I didn't feel lonely or abandoned, in fact being an 'empty nester' was, and is, a wonderful thing. Now it's really showing me how great family life is. They are always popping round, we communicate more now than we did when they were all at home. We enjoy seeing each other. Two weeks ago they made Mothers Day special, and today they have excelled themselves for my birthday. We all sat at that table today and I felt so proud, and so loved that I would not swap my family, all the trials, all the upsets, all the worries there ever were, for anything. Next, the new generation will be with us. All being well, within the next 6 weeks, our family will expand again and my first grandchild will be showing me yet another role and facet in my life, I can't wait.