Towels That Look Lonely?

Untouched. Put away. Lonely. Poor Towels.

Here I sit in Texas without them (family that is, not towels). It's going on several weeks now and the lonely is setting in. Nothing is meant to be alone. No one person is meant to be alone. It's not even the big things I miss. Things like dinner together, ballgames, family gatherings, a night on the town. No, it's the little things. It's the small things in life that scream, "You are not alone!" It's the small things in life that give a gentle tap on the shoulder to say, "Hey, its really good to be alive, isn't it?" It's weird how that works. I get snatched away from my daily crazy life and I miss nothing more than my daily crazy life. The things that brought frustration, now I miss. Yelling, "KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED!" ...is now a door untouched, unmoving, silent. Time goes by and the daily events are forgotten and never shared. Even the mind and word games played by two, now I long for. The voices I shushed, I long to hear, close by and in the distant rooms. The games and toys I tripped over in frustration, I now buy and leave out just to remind myself they are coming soon. It's good to be alive when you get a hug and kiss goodnight from your 16 year old son. It's good to be alive when you see your husband chuckle at something you said, or not chuckle is more like it. Life and togetherness shout when you are soaking wet after a shower, dripping, water turned off, and...no dry towels. But now, how is it that all of the sudden a stack of perfectly folded dry clean towels look lonely and sad? Noise I tried to run from, now I look for it. Hearing "MOM!!" ...is like chocolate I crave. Enjoying a show in silence, but together, I desire. Singing children that I tell to quiet down... what is wrong with me? Dishes are clean. Floors they shine. Laundry complete. I have time to do whatever I want. Peace surrounds. All of it, well, it's just not life and so not what we all dream it will be. SO BRING IT ON! BRING ON THE unflushed toilets, the dirty clothes on the floor, tripping on shoes in the doorway, a dog barking, kids fighting, video game time limits, the whats for dinner dilemma, carpooling kids, lights staying on, water bill high, out of milk frustration, flies in the house, someone take the dog out, where's my keys, don't talk to your mother like that, stop tracking in dirt, unbrushed teeth, kids saying I'm bored in a house of entertainment provided, we need gas, use napkins for toilet paper kinda days!!! Bring it all on. Because, it means I'm not alone. It means I have a purpose. It means I am a part of something bigger than myself. Oh how good it is to be alive and see the daily expressions and life happen in the faces of those you love most. Good, bad, happy, or sad. When the road is traveled together, it is well traveled.