It’s been an interesting season here in the Goble household. My daughter flew to the East Coast, Europe, and on to Thailand nearly six weeks ago. Soon after my son flew to Thailand to meet her. In our home, that’s not too unusual.
But what is odd is having D’Aun gone as much as she has been. She had a great trip to Costa Rica with friends in the middle of January, then came home for a few days before heading to Thailand and joining our kids. During part of that time I’ve been to Belize and Santa Barbara. In total, D’Aun and I have been home together just four of the last thirty days.
D’Aun on an elephant in Thailand.
Oh, we’ve stayed in touch. The upside of technology allows that. But it’s not the same thing. You don’t roll over in the middle of the night worried that your movement might wake your iPhone.
Curiously, I thought this long separation would be a break for me. As if I’d sit around watching guy movies and eating pizza. It didn’t unfold that way, which is probably a good thing. I did watch a few guy movies, and I did order pizza once, but my time alone was filled with appointments, domestic chores, a bit of travel, lots of work, and even a busy social schedule.
I know, I know…terrible. I should’ve spent the time on a road trip through the Southwest, or at a rally racing school, or some other unique thing that she’d never do with me.
But that’s not how life works. A big part of marriage is helping each other enjoy life, and in times past D’Aun graciously let me travel the world while she stayed home with the kids. Now the reverse is happening, at least for this month. Seems appropriate that I’d stay home and watch the dog.
And I learned a few things. Even when she is gone, D’Aun remains in my thoughts. The places I go, the people I see, the things I say … her presence is part of my awareness. It would be a cliche that her presence shows up in how I clean the kitchen or water the plants (and it does). But it goes deeper than that, as if she’s part of me even when she’s gone. Which, of course, she is.
Naturally, I draw the line at making the bed. The fancy pillows are quite comfortable on the floor. But that’s a feud that will take longer than a month to resolve.
She leaves Thailand today and arrives home tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to that for many reasons. I doubt the pillows care, but don’t tell her that.