Proust Captures the Spirit of my Hopeful Monday

Last week my husband flew to Ireland for work. It was not a hopeful Monday, more like sad Sunday. He travels once every couple of months and when he’s gone, we feel a slight tension in our family. Overall, we’re fine and with my three kids being older, it’s easier now than it used to be, but we still feel the absence. And inside the absence, a strange quiet yearning exists. We go on with school and work and home life but we’re all waiting for the five of us to be together again.

Because my husband works at home a couple of days a week and is actively engaged as a dad, his presence is big in our family. He’s the other anchor. The one who’s always there with his patience and reason and forgiveness. With the car to drive someone to a lesson or a friend’s while I’m making dinner. He plays piano with each child and their instrument. He’s the one who leads with me, deciding the ways to go forward. So when he’s absent, we all feel it. It’s not terrible or horrific, it’s just an extra bit of emptiness. We all miss him in our own way.

Home Again

On Friday evening, he came back. Whenever he does, our two dogs jump and squeal and yelp like puppies. It’s a sweet sight to see him rolling his suitcase down the driveway. Like a drink of fresh water. Gathering into a five-person unit is a small change with a big effect. Perhaps, you feel it yourself when someone who lives in your home is gone, someone you love or even a room mate or relative. It’s a tiny temporary loss.

So, my Monday quote for the week is about what I’m feeling today with our family intact. It’s sunny out, it’s spring. Life is hopeful again. Here’s Marcel Proust’s words.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

Photo by Juliane Liebermann on Unsplash