sweet things

It’s a potent cup of emotions– today is my mother’s birthday and Ben’s last day at home.

As a going away gift Ben spontaneously cleaned the refrigerator for me. It’s a task I rarely take on myself. Why should I when he does it for me?

“Mom, I’m worried about you. You’re all going to die of food poisoning when I leave.”

“You need to concentrate on eating celery, carrots and red peppers because they are all about to go bad.”

“Explore the fridge every few days mom– let it breathe.”

“Sure it’s still good, but is anyone going to eat it or will it just be sitting here when I get back?”

“Coffee yogurt, mom? Isn’t that a little borderline?”

Our beloved Kit & Kevin gifted Ben with a freshman survival kit. It is so brilliant and thoughtful that it made both Ben and I a little teary–“Why are they so nice to me, Mom? I can’t believe they went to so much trouble for me.”

The hours spun by so quickly that I didn’t make it to the cemetery. I wanted to; I thought of her every moment. I mothered my children in the way she’d like and felt my heart ease a bit.

At the end of the day, Gabriel looked at Ben, spontaneously clasped his arms around his waist and called, “I’m really going to miss you Ben, I’m really going to miss you.” And we all joined in a great crazy dog pile of silly hugging missingness.