I am sick. I got my daughter's cold, which she had earlier this week, so I've been in bed yesterday and today, my throat sore and my head aching. It's not an awful sickness. It's nothing like the FLU, which I contracted in April and knocked me out for a good 9 solid days.
But I'm pretty much flopped, not cooking or cleaning or managing the house. Luckily my husband is home today, and I sat here nursing a cup of coffee while I listened to him make breakfast for our son.
"What is this?" our son asked.
"Oatmeal," my husband replied, packing up lunch (I have no idea what went into that lunch bag).
"It smells funny."
"It's got maple in it."
I heard my son stir the oatmeal, his spoon clanking against the bowl. I sighed. He doesn't like pre-packaged, flavored oatmeal. He likes egg whites fried in olive oil with a slice of cinnamon toast turned golden under the broiler. Or he likes eggs scrambled and put over warm corn tortillas with a shot of yellow mustard. But he doesn't like maple flavored oatmeal.
I smiled and kept sipping coffee. The boys managed somehow because my son came in later and kissed me and smelled like maple. They're off now, on their way to school.
All of this has me thinking about a video I can't stop watching or thinking about or talking about. Just ask my family.
It's about a son who is taking care of his mother, aged 66, who suffers with dementia.
I think many thoughts while I watch this video and the others on the website, Molly's Movement.
Most of all I think how lucky they are to have each other, this mother and son. Obviously, the mother is lucky. Her kids take turns daily taking her out, visiting with her and helping her through this period of life. But her son is lucky, too, to have this time with her, even though it's clearly painful. In the end, all we have is each other.
NPR's story about the phone booth in Japan reminded me of the same thing.
It seems like it's a message I need to hear, over and over again, lately. Or maybe it's just a message so universal, it never stops showing up, in one form or another.
