Thursday, March 30, 2023

Filling the Emptiness

Even though the unstable weather caused me to wake up with a headache, I agreed to drive my son to school. It was an attempt, I suppose, to make up for the day before when I had failed to inform him of my intention to take him, and, before I could stop him, he ran out of the house to catch the bus. 

We were mostly quiet on the way, as we often are first thing in the morning, still waking up and lost in contemplation of the day ahead. He is always in charge of music, so I was pleased when he put on a Keith Urban song. It was ostensibly for me, but I've noticed lately that he sings along. 

It's a fairly short drive and within minutes I was pulling over to the curb in the drop-off lane to let him out. Usually, he takes the music with him when he exits the car, the resulting silence accentuating the emptiness that his absence leaves behind. But this morning, before he got out, he connected my phone and left me with music to accompany me home.

"Love you," he said as he swung the car door closed.

I watched him walk away, then pulled away from the curb, the sound of the music he had chosen, just for me this time, filling up the emptiness.



1 comment:

  1. This is so beautiful! What a sweet connection you've described with your son! I love the way you've slowly unfolded the story, going from it not being an ideal morning to drive him, to being so glad that you did.

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