Silence.

As I sit on my bed in my room I am engulfed in the sound of silence.  But then I think...does silence even have a sound?  Or is silence simply the lack of sound?  Because if it's truly the lack of sound then I suppose it isn't completely silent considering my fingers are tapping hard upon the keys of the keyboard.  But in my case tonight - silence is the lack of voices, the lack of feet upon the creaking hardwood floors, the lack of people within my home.

So I had to say goodbye to Peter's parents this morning.  They were flying back to Ireland today after staying with us for nearly three weeks.  And I can honestly say I miss them.  I miss their voices.  I miss their sounds.  I miss the lilt in their speech.  I miss the teapot on the counter.  

And when we picked them up at the airport, we knew the goodbye was going to come - we knew it was simply inevitable.  However, it was just me saying goodbye this morning.  Peter left for his road trip days ago, so his goodbye came a few days sooner, and that goodbye was hard.  But then again the goodbyes are always hard.  They are never easy.  And after witnessing that goodbye I just kept feeling as though I was prolonging the inevitable!  And I think that made it all the more difficult because I have been anticipating and simply dreading this goodbye for days.

So this morning was just like any other morning right up until 8:32 when it was time for me to leave for work.  I got up from the couch and said..."well I guess I should get going!"  They both got up too...hugged me tight, expressed their gratitude and their love, while getting all teary eyed.  I told them what a true pleasure it was to have them and thanked them for coming to visit.  There was so much more I wanted to say, like thank you for sacrificing your son and letting him live here while you miss out on the bits and pieces that are his life, but remained silent for fear of truly breaking down.  I was already fairly emotional, and then as I was walking out the door, Peter's mom said..."We love you!"  And I barely made it out to the car in time for the first tear to stream down my face.

I feel blessed to have in-laws that I not only love, but deeply enjoy.  And I don't think I realized just HOW rare that was until I started telling people that my in-laws were not only visiting for 3 weeks, but staying with us the majority of the time.  The responses I received were truly priceless.  People were truly concerned for my well being and even praised me for "putting up" with the in-laws for that long.  

And I laugh because I don't deserve the praise whatsoever.  I am not having to "to put up" with the in-laws - they are having to put up with ME!  But truly ...spending time with them is never a chore.  It is enjoyable and I truly treasure our time together.  And maybe that's because it is so rare considering we only see each other once or twice a year?  Who knows...but quite frankly, I don't really care!

So after having people within my home for 3 weeks, I knew I would be a disaster tonight if I came home to silence.  And like I said earlier I love when my home is filled with voices, with noise.  I love it so much so that when my dear friend Anna asked me if I would watch her girls tonight I responded with a YES please.  Don't get me wrong, I don't MIND the silence, but I just didn't want it tonight.

And let me tell you those girls brought some noise and so much joy into this home, but that's for another night and for another post!  Because now it's time for me to truly embrace the silence, to stop tapping on the keys, and to simply lay my head down on my soft pillow.  Doesn't that sound nice?  Until next time...