Mom, are you and Frank available next Saturday, or is that not a good time?
I stared at the message so long that Frank asked whether something was wrong.
“No,” I said, smiling a little. “Something is different.”
Cody had asked. He had not assumed. He had not ordered. He had asked.
That Saturday, he brought the children over for lunch. Emma climbed into my lap and asked to see pictures of the ocean. I showed her Haystack Rock, the cottage porch, and the gray water beneath a pale sky. Later, she drew it with blue crayons and a green streak that looked exactly like the sea after rain.
I placed the drawing on my refrigerator.
Cody noticed it before he left. His face softened, and for one brief moment, I think he understood that I had not chosen Oregon instead of family. I had chosen to remain a person within my family.
That is the difference.
I still help. I still babysit. I still answer late-night calls when there is a real emergency. But I no longer mistake love for endless availability.
The plane did not wait.
And neither should a life.
For Complete Cooking STEPS Please Head On Over To Next Page Or Open button (>) and don’t forget to SHARE with your Facebook friends.
