A quote: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” ~~ Proverbs 13:12

I’ll start with a story …

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He promised, of course. “Don’t worry, mom. We’ll visit. I’ll call every week.”

And of course, I believed. We were so proud of him. We went to all the parent-teacher conferences, showed up at his soccer games.

I displayed his latest drawings on the refrigerator, scrapbooked the Student of the Month certificates and ribbons for Science Fair projects.

He loved helping his dad with yard work and fussed only a little with clearing off the table after dinner.

And when he brought her home on Thanksgiving in his junior year at college, we were thrilled. She was funny and warm and couldn’t be helpful enough with dinner. We laughed over a sink of suds and I told stories as we put things away.

The wedding two years later wasn’t what we expected. That it was grand beyond our modest expectations wasn’t the thing. Her parents were polite, but distant. I’d catch looks thrown my way. Oh, they adored our son, but …

He worked for them and they settled in the city. Phone calls slipped, visits were often cancelled “Mom, I’m sorry. My job is so hectic lately …” We made sure to travel to them when our grandson was born. But we were put up in a hotel and had to call first before dropping by.

Today I find myself trembling. My husband comes up behind me, arms hold me tight. “this time,” he whispers, “this time.”

A car pulls into the driveway.

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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, cropped, Adobe stock standard license.