The Gift of Time

"I am not going to stay in the hotel tomorrow night." said my friend, last Monday, "The room is paid for; it's a shame for it to go to waste. Maybe you know someone who would like to use it..."

I would have loved stay in the hotel... on a different day. But not Tuesday night, after a long chemo day.

Later, I thought about it some more. A free night in a hotel. An offer like that does not come my way every day.

I called my friend.

"I'll use the hotel room!" I said.

"Great!" she answered, laughing. (She is always laughing!)

"I think I'll take one of my kids," I said, thinking aloud.

Ideally, I would have loved to go away with Moshe, even for just one night. But, logistically, it would not work.

Since I had just spent significant "quality time" with A, my youngest (after we went to Kever Rachel, I took her out to lunch and we had a wonderful time together), I decided to go to the hotel with Y, my sweet, eldest daughter, who has suddenly become the quintessential teenager.

It was so good for us to go away together!

After dinner, we unpacked our things and got ready for bed. Then we had a slumber party! We watched silly things on TV, ate melon and cake, and talked. I even braided Y's hair.

We did not talk about anything serious. We joked about this and that, made comments about the TV shows, and laughed.

At one point, Y said something about the cancer. I responded seriously, and Y looked at me, the way only teenage girls look at their mothers, and said "I was kidding!" (subtext: "gee mom, don't you know anything??")

I laughed, relieved that she was joking, and relieved that she had made a joke about the cancer. It's not a big deal. It's just another "thing" for us to joke about. Next...

Before we knew it, it was past midnight. We were both tired, happy, and ready for bed.

I called Moshe to say good-night. A was sleeping over at a friend's, so Moshe and MD had some "quality time" of their own. They had gone out to a movie and had a great time. Everyone had a special experience that night. I went to sleep feeling tranquil and at peace.

In the morning, Y and I woke up early, so that we could eat breakfast together. I love hotel breakfasts!

Our morning was relaxed, and easy going. Breakfast was refreshing and tasty.

Soon enough, it was time to go.

I drove Y to her course, and headed off to my retreat.

Seamlessly, we returned to our busy lives.



Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA