Peace and Quiet Is OK

Admittedly, there are days when I wonder what it would be like to be a normal, every day retiree--you know, stay up and get out of bed late, go out at night whenever the mood strikes, travel at will, not have my independence over at 2:15 each day--in other words, captain my own ship. But, being an abnormal retiree, I am raising an eleven year old which denies all of the above and instead my ship is captained by someone other than me.

Given the above, would make one think that this week would be a touch of heaven around here. Monday morning Casey left for 6th grade camp for 4 days and 3 nights. Ken and I have our lives back for 84 hours.

Of course this is not enough time for a cruise or travel to far away places but we can do little things like lunch with a friend not seen in 40 years. That is  what we did today in beautiful Del Mar.

What a gorgeous day it was with bright golden sun, blue blue water and a sky dotted with a fluffy cloud or two.

Julie and Chuck have lived in Encinitas for 15 years and yet this is the first time we have kept the Christmas letter promises of getting together. Why do we do things like this? Today was such fun as the years rolled away.

Ken and I then leisurely drove back to San Diego via the scenic coast line through Torrey Pines and finally to the ubiquitous freeway. It was a very nice day with no obligation to anyone but ourselves.

During this time we have stayed up late, slept in and enjoyed quiet evenings. There have been no trips to the karate studio, baseball field or church activities and no worry about whether homework is done. We are normal people of a certain age.

So--why is it that in this time of bliss we find ourselves missing the child? I'm not sure of the answer as the quiet is peaceful and I'm pretty sure that in not too many more days we would adjust quite well to an empty nest. But the truth is I do miss his smile and enthusiasm. There is a vacuum, a hole here that needs to be filled and I suspect by a growing up boy.