Phone Call

I just spent the past hour talking to my parents on the phone. As much as I wish it could have been in person with eye contact and body langauge to add to the overall effect of our conversation, it never fails to bring me contentment when my parents share their news. It was so nice to hear them excitedly telling me about their trip to New York and Boston. It isn't often that my parents take off for a vacation just with the two of them for no purpose other than to explore life together, but they did and both seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. I really believe that couples need these times to reconnect and revalidate their relationship in a way that only "getting away" allows us to do. In the one day they were in New York they saw Mamma Mia on Broadway, met a man from India who took them to all the hotspots throughout NYC (of course they paid for his services, but after their adventures with him they became fast friends and he actually invited them to his wedding in India...Tony was his name), they rode on a chairlift through NYC, saw nothing from the Empire State Building (there was zero visibility), went to Ground Zero, ate at a NY deli, and satyed in an airport hotel. Their plane arrived in Boston the following afternoon when they met up with my cousin, Lisa, and her family, who continued to add to their New England experiences. My dad was taken with the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock, they were greeted with a fresh clam and lobster dinner, and had many conversations, getting to know my cousin as a woman, rather than the child they remembered. They visited the Boston Marketplace and had memorable, costly ice cream cones. And they enjoyed every minute of it all, from what I heard in their voices.

I miss my parents so much. I wish I could be there to share in their daily life adventures. I wish I could help get Christmas trees and go hunting with my dad, and make out Greyhound tickets for my mom. I wish I could prepare dinner and have it ready for them when they came home from work. I wish I could sit and watch Fox News or CNN or CNBC or whatever my dad's newest news craze at the moment is. I wish I could sit up way too late talking to my mom about every little thing that has no meaning to anyone other than the two of us.

I can't be there in person, but I never leave them in heart. My parents are amazing people whom I am proud to know, even prouder to call mine. They have given me so much in my life and I can never thank them enough for all they have done. I'm so grateful they are learning to enjoy life as just the two of them again. I'm glad they took a trip and had a great time. And, I'm glad I was able to hear all about it!