Alone but Not Lonely

"When's Babci coming, Mama?"

"Well, she said she'd be here at 9:30. Looks like she's going to be late." What else is new? I thought to myself.

My mother-in-law had planned to take the three boys to a children's play this morning. The play was scheduled to begin at 10:30 at the Off-Broadstreet Theater in Hopewell, about fifteen miles away.

Stephanie finally showed up, forty minutes late. She claimed that there was a traffic problem on the drive over--though, as Tab said, she would have been only twenty minutes late had she left her house on time. Her tardiness today didn't bother me, however. As I said to Tab, "She's done it to herself, this time." For once, she's the one who will have to face the consequences of her lateness.

"Call the theater and tell them we're on our way," she ordered Tab. Stephanie knows the theater director...but, still.

"That's hardly fair to the other people in the audience, is it?" Tab answered.

"Just tell them who it is," Stephanie insisted and drove off in a hurry.

Of course, Tab did not call.

Tab and I suddenly realized that we were alone in the house, a rare but welcome occurrence. We made good use of the time....

I expected Stephanie to bring the boys home around lunchtime. Instead, she called a little later in the afternoon to say that she had taken them out to lunch and would keep them at her house for a few hours, bringing them back in time for their swimming lesson later in the afternoon.

Tab had to leave at 1:30 to meet wedding clients, and I was alone in the house. Bliss! It so rarely happens that I have time completely to myself. I crave solitude, but I almost never get it in this crowded rabbit warren of a house.

I spent some time on the computer catching up with email and the newsgroups I follow; I spent more time on the couch reading my novel. Then I put my book aside and daydreamed for awhile. I listened to the sounds of the house; the electric hum of the air conditioner and the whoosh of air from the ceiling fan were all I heard. I closed my eyes and slipped into a light sleep.

By the time the boys came home, I felt rejuvenated. The quiet house was once again filled with their shouts, laughter, and yells. Having had my solitude, I was ready for noisy togetherness.

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