Sandwiched
Hopefully Mother Nature was kind to us last evening and we were all able to safely celebrate our nation’s birth with family, friends and, of course, fireworks!
My heart had already experienced fireworks of a different kind a few days earlier this week. Let me explain.
I’ve been waiting for months to see my sister Vicky who lives in Florida. She and her fiancé Terrence come up for a week in the summer to visit their Indiana people. I look forward to seeing them every year. But I know my mother looks forward to their visit most of all.
Usually I mark Mom’s calendar as soon as I know when Vicky will be in town, but this year things were a bit touch and go. Everyone and their brother in many companies was asking for the holiday week off, so her vacation request took quite a while to process.
Vicky finally let me know last Friday that she would be arriving Sunday. She also said she’d like to surprise Mom. Perfect! Vicky figured they’d get to Noblesville around 2:30 p.m.
Summertime construction and traffic, however, messed up their timeline a bit. I had called Mom and told her I was going to stop by with some freshly cut watermelon sometime Sunday afternoon. It looked like Vicky and Terrence wouldn’t arrive until a little before 4 – which is when Mom goes down to the dining room for dinner. Yes, she’s like most people of “a certain age” and eats well before 5!
I knew I had to stall her, so I zoomed over to her facility to find her already in the dining room at 3:45. I made up a crazy excuse to get her back in her room claiming my husband John was bringing her some delicious ribs from the grill. Amazingly, she bought it.
I stalled by doing some puttering in her room then got Vicky’s text that she had arrived. Claiming I was going to meet John, I went to the front of the facility. I was actually shaking in excitement!
Vicky then called Mom on the phone as she walked down the hallway and I grinned like a little kid. And then, when Vicky opened Mom’s door and I saw the look on our mother’s face, the fireworks exploded in my heart.
Mom’s baby was home.
Photo provided
As I write this I’m still floating from that moment and many others. My family and I aren’t only seeing Vicky and her fiancé this week, but my niece Melissa and her husband and kiddos from North Carolina as well.
They say that family is everything and I believe it 100%. Reuniting with those you love causes fireworks that are even more brilliant than the ones that light up the night sky. And I’ll keep a brilliant sparkle in my heart from these summer visits for months to come.