Cait: Mom, I had a thought.
Me: Great. Just one?
Cait: Yeah, just this one thought. You know the smell of bacon---and the smell of sun? You know those two smells.
Me: Well, yeah, kinda…sun smells…I guess.
Cait: Well, those two smells. They’re the ones I always smell when I think of Arizona. You know how we always ate breakfast outside in the hot sun? So, I had this thought. We used to go there and you know I love the desert. Do you think we could go back?
Me: Well, of course we can. We never saw the Grand Canyon and I’m really mad about that. Of course we can go.
It’s been a not-so-fun couple of days and phone calls. Luggage that was finally located had suddenly gone missing again. Landlords had suddenly gone crazy and were threatening eviction. Backs that were hurting were diagnosed as curved. Just those days when a mom takes the calls, stiffens her back, and lets her kids rain down on her.
All because then come the good days. Days when a son is starting back up with his ever-popular hosting of law school kids watching ANTM complete with animal cracker snacks. Days when a daughter calls as she walks along the streets of NY and you can hear the happiness in her voice with her first “Hi Mom.”
Days when she talks of the smell of sun.
Sep 10th