Gaining perspective

This past weekend I spent the first two days in over nine months away from my baby. It was a weekend full of friends, fun, relaxing, eating, drinking, and most importantly, recharging and finding perspective.
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The group of friends was comprised of six ladies that met in the fall of 1997, which means that we've almost known each other for 15 years. Seeing that number makes me feel OLD, but like a fine wine, our friendship seems to only get better with age. You may recall that we embarked on a journey to San Francisco last year and had big plans for our future escapades. Well, turns out that between that trip and now, four of the six of us have had babies and we needed to stay closer to home. And, in the words of Dave Matthews, "it's not where you are, but who you're with, that really matters."  So, with Cincinnati being a good middle ground for the crews coming from Nashville, Lexington, Louisville and Columbus, we started with a spa day, threw in some fabulous dinners, peppered it with shopping, and generally enjoyed lounging, catching up, and being together without any responsibilities. 

Yes, I missed Anna dearly, yes, I felt pangs of guilt as I left on Saturday, and yes, I have the best husband in the entire world for letting me slip away for a little R&R. What I gained though, was perspective. We shared stories of old times, caught up life, commiserated about hectic schedules, discussed how others make being a Mom and working full time "work," and drank wine, champagne and margaritas, and simply enjoyed each other's company.

And then something happened and the weekend ended with tears.

As we arrived back in the hotel lobby after Sunday's dinner, there were two people also waiting for the elevator: a man and a younger girl in a wheelchair wearing a cheerleading outfit, who also had physical disabilities. As one of the elevator doors opened up, they approached and then the man looked back at us and asked "want to ride with us?" I think we'd all been a little hesitant because of space concerns, but also because we'd all just had a few margaritas each. As the doors closed someone asked the pair if they were in town for a conference. The man replied "yes, it was JamFest and they have a cheerleading competition with a category for disabled participants ... and we won first place, the grand prize!" We cheered as he declared their victory and held up the medal the girl wore around her neck. The door opened on their floor and I had to step out to allow for enough room as they exited. As a friend and I got back on the elevator I could feel tears forming and said to my friends, "that just makes me want to cry, they were soooo sweet, and it's just not fair." But, as I was finishing the sentence, a friend interjected with "but, she's led such a full life." And that was so very true.

As I drove home in the wee hours of Monday morning so that I could arrive before Anna woke up, I got teary-eyed again. I was excited to see my baby, grateful l I have such a wonderful husband and father to my child, and extremely thankful for the life I've been blessed to live. It all hit home as I turned into our neighbourhood. To rephrase what a dear friend had said less than 12 hours earlier, I've lived a VERY, VERY full life. And, I'm thankful I took two days away to remember just that. I was crying tears of joy.