Oh, Happy Day!

This was a day Momma G.D. and I have been waiting for nearly 15 years. We got word from our son that he and his family will be visiting us in March.

The boy left Maine to go out West to marry a girl he met on the Internet. She actually came here for a few days to travel west with him. It also gave his mother, our daughter, and me a chance to meet her. It was a sad day for us when he drove out of this place he had called home all his life. He had a college degree in education so at least we had confidence he would find work. I should add he went back to University out there and earned his Masters and at least has been working on his doctorate.

M.G.D. and I flew out to his new home to attend the wedding. We got to spend a couple of days with the lad and his bride-to-be and her family, participate in the ceremony and then flew home.

Three times M.D.G. and I went west on vacations. Due to circumstances we only got to spend a day or two with our son and his wife. The second visit gave us a chance to meet our granddaughter, and that was a wonderful couple of days. D-I-L did all she could to make our visit a meaningful one. But I sensed tensions on both families.

We had our last trip west three years ago but couldn’t get to their home. We offered to pay all their expenses to come to us and arranged a couple of extra days on our vacation to Alaska hoping we could get together. It was not to be.

Yes. You can believe there’s a lot more to this story, but sometimes it’s best just to return to happier moments.

Those moments began for us New Year’s Eve when we got a call from the lad asking if we would be available if he and his wife and daughter came to Maine for a short visit. We wanted to do pirouettes, shout from the mountain tops, leap for joy. But we could only interpret the call as exploratory, so generally maintained our silence. Only one other human being was given the information. We’ve kept our silence, even from our daughter.

Today, an email arrived telling us that the tickets were in hand, the reservation for a rental car was in hand, and they’d arrive in March. Now the joy has taken over. We are looking forward to a wonderful, happy, and, yes, I’ll call it a reunion, with our son and his family. M.G.D. has already written down the days she’ll need off from her part-time “Just gotta have something to do” job.

We’ll give the information to our daughter a little later tonight.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining in Southern Maine, and it’s shining directly on us.

G.D.