day 4: reaching out... day 5: staying connected....

[Judy Connolly]

day 4: Well, I was long overdue to talk to my mother, so my gift for day 4 was to call her and chat a bit. She & I are not close, and it is often a struggle to call her. I know she appreciates hearing from me, and I feel glad when I do call her. This call was no exception.

day 5: Today really began around midnight. My 17 year old son was on an overnight leadership training with his junior class about 85 miles (not interstate) from home. He called a few minutes before midnight when I was just getting into a deep sleep to say he was sick and needed me to come pick him up. I had gotten up at 5AM that morning to get him to school in time to leave on the bus at 6:30 for the trip so I was TIRED. I told him I couldn't drive safey with no sleep but that I would leave the house at 4AM to be there by 6AM. My husband concurred so at 4AM we were ready to hit the road and retrieve my son. As we were leaving, my husband. who is unemployed, volunteered to go by himself so I could sleep a bit longer before going to work. That was really tempting, but I decided he & I needed some uninterrrupted time to connect because (since his unemployment 10 months ago and my increasingly long work hours) we aren't together much, and when we are, we often are not at our best. So my gift was to spend time with my husband rather than sleep. It was a good choice because we had a great time, and before the sun rose, we had a beautiful clear sky with a bright full moon. I was able to take the morning off from work so I did not have to rush getting my son settled in at home after getting him an appointment with his doctor. We are all home now and resting comfortatbly.