Happy Mother's Day!
I've been working four ten hours days since last July, and the days of my week now seem to run together. But, I wouldn't trade it back to working five days a week!
Last Friday, the Friday before Mother's Day, I received my first correspondence from my son.
He's been gone since April 9th, gone to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for Army National Guard boot camp. When he left, he was carrying a pretty large chip on his shoulders and asked me not to contact him. He didn't care if I was his mom. He didn't want to hear from me by phone, text messaging, or letters.
When his girlfriend received his address, I asked if I could have it. "Of course," she said, and I promptly sent his address to all our family. I also found a card that really reminded me of my son when he was about 10 years old. I decided to send it. Positive thoughts written in my hand filled the blank inside. I signed, "Love You, Mom."
Now, back to the Friday before Mother's Day. I was able to get the mail as soon as it was delivered Friday. As I thumbed through the stack of mail, I found a letter size envelope. No returned address. Postmark from Oklahoma City, OK.
It was from my son! I was so excited! Once inside the house, I opened his letter only to find the card I'd sent him, ripped to shreds. No other note, other than the pieced together words "Return to Sender!" across the front of my original envelope, now shredded in my hands. My heart sunk, I think it even missed a few beats. I was crushed.
Styx sings a song... it goes something like this... "...why must you be an angry young man... your future looks quite bright to me..." Boy! Talk about sting. Oh, that was Styx! lol
The next day, Saturday, I received a beautiful, fragrant bouquet of roses from my daughter. Her card said, "Thanks for being a wonderful Mom." The flowers were beautiful. I thanked her right away, and had a good visit with her over the phone. (She's in Los Angeles.)
That afternoon, I took my parents out for dinner. My dad wouldn't let me pay. Dinner was good and we had a nice visit too. They gave me a hanging planter full of spring flowers for my patio.
Sunday, Mother's Day, I really never gave any more thought to hearing from kids. I had a great visit with my daughter over the phone. I received my son's message, loud and clear. I expected nothing more of my day. My guy was home and he treated me all day long! Thank you, Buddy.
Then, before lunch, I checked my cell phone as I have an ad in the paper for my puppies... and OMG!!! I received a text from my son. It was a nice text message, so nice I thought maybe his girlfriend sent it for him. I called his cell... it rang, and rang again, and he answered! I think we were both in shock! I had called from another number that he wasn't aware of, and totally expected his girlfriend to answer.
We talked for just a couple of minutes. He was very nice, not sarcastic like he had been before he left. I just wanted to reach through that phone and give him a great big hug!!! We talked about graduation dates and I told him I'd like to be there. He agreed. I told him I loved him, he said he loved me too, and our call was over.
I think this has been my best Mother's Day so far!
