WEATHERING THE STORMS

That sleepy smirk of my son, the carefree attitude of my oldest, and the thoughtfulness of my youngest daughter

‘Everyone has valid passports in the car?’, I asked my younger daughter after I’d just seen their car pass by on my way home today, shortly after noon.

‘Yep we checked multiple times’, she replied. I wanted to make sure that passports were not the issue on this fourth attempt at the cruise, as was the case two summers ago. Covid being the issue the second time and the first attempt was yet another issue altogether.

Once again, my son was adamant about not going on the cruise with his father, siblings, and other family members and friends. It took a great deal of convincing, to include bribery and guilt. Finally, I decided to drop off my son at his father’s house yesterday for one more attempt at convincing. My younger daughter had the same idea as me, calling me the night before to have me bring over her brother.

His excuses were many, but deep down, I knew he would have regretted not going. Though he did get to experience a mini cruise last December, when we travelled from Denmark to Sweden, it is nothing like a 6-day cruise on a ship which is basically a small city on water.

Being the peacekeeper, my younger daughter assured me and her brother that she would spend time with him so he wouldn’t feel left out. The teenage years are certainly difficult. A time when you believe that everyone is watching your every move, when in fact everyone is simply trying to focus on themselves. It’s a time when teens are hyper focused on their bodies and self-image.

I stopped by this morning to drop off my son’s suitcase, having spent the entire night and into the early morning washing clothes and packing. I made sure to pack my son’s ‘comfort clothes’. Those cargo pants and hoodies. But also shorts and t-shirts, though I am certain those will be relinquished to the bottom of his suitcase.

When I arrived, my younger daughter had awoken her brother and older sister and had them come meet me to say farewell. They were all very tired but managed to get together in the ‘baby order’ for a rare photo of them together. A photo which very much shows their personalities, with the oldest in the middle getting ready to leave the nest and start a new chapter in her life at university.

‘Just got to Galveston’, my daughter texted at 20,55 tonight. This was after I received photos of my daughter at the university. I couldn’t help but think how I have missed out on so much of my daughters’ lives in the past few years. But the same could be said of their father missing out on our son’s life. Such are the consequences of the choices we make. One example of the storms of life we must weather.

‘Cool. Thank you. How’s the weather?’, I wanted to know if hurricane Beryl was an issue at the moment. We have all been watching the news of the storm approaching the areas they would be visiting, knowing that there is the possibility their trip would be cancelled.

‘It’s good it’s 87°’, she replied. So far, there has been no rain. But there are still two days until they board the ship, so hopefully they will get to have that cruise experience this time.

Each of us has a unique life experience, with no story ever being the same. Some people have gone through more than others, but this in no way diminishes their life story. One thing we all do have in common is that at some point, we will all be weathering the storms that come our way.