I'm Back!
Last night, I returned home from a 10-day trip to Bermuda (my native home). The trip was planned very last minute and was a result of an ongoing urge to reconnect with my Bermuda people combined with the desire to surprise a dear friend of mine from college whom I hadn't seen in 10 years and who would be visiting Bermuda for a few days. Well, I decided to surprise everyone -- family and all. It was incredible and reminded me how spontaneity can spice up life sometimes. I had the best time on the island and loved the way I was able to bring huge smiles to faces and hearts by just showing up there. I am so grateful I listened to that "voice" within (and friends) telling me to JUST DO IT!
Initially, I had only planned to go for about six days but ended up extending the vacation. Glad I did, because as it turns out, my connecting flight back to Florida got canceled and I would have been stuck somewhere far away from home.
What is currently amazing me is that for about the first eight years or so of being a mom, I couldn't even fathom being miles away from my son...being separated by a trip as such. However, I can't believe how I just easily survived a 10-day trip, alone, while my husband and son were at home. We all survived quite well, I might add. They had a great time and so did I. They enjoyed time with relatives visiting from New York; they swam, played games, visited a Water Park, went to the movies and more. (I'll post additional entries about what I did.)
If my husband had not been off from work during time I was in Bermuda, I'm certain I would not have gone for that amount of time, but all of the puzzle pieces seemed to have fit together as if this trip was custom-designed for me to JUST DO IT!
On some level, perhaps I've grown mentally! Maybe? I truly can't believe how guilt-free I was (for the most part) about not having my son with me during this recent Bermuda trip. I didn't feel selfish at all. I surprised myself. Perhaps I realized that for 10 years I have genuinely given my son all of my heart and soul -- just about every fibre of my being. So, during this trip, instead of being consumed by Mommy guilt for taking a Mommy break, I, instead, used that energy to relish in the well-needed break that God seemed to have just handed to me out of nowhere.
As I was typing this blog, I decided to call my husband at work to thank him for so successfully keeping things flowing on the home front in my absence. He said that if he hadn't been off for the time I was gone, he's not so certain things would have flowed as well as they did. "It might have been a nightmare," he said. Even though things ran quite well here and everyone stayed in high spirits, "we still need you," he added. :-)
Initially, I had only planned to go for about six days but ended up extending the vacation. Glad I did, because as it turns out, my connecting flight back to Florida got canceled and I would have been stuck somewhere far away from home.
What is currently amazing me is that for about the first eight years or so of being a mom, I couldn't even fathom being miles away from my son...being separated by a trip as such. However, I can't believe how I just easily survived a 10-day trip, alone, while my husband and son were at home. We all survived quite well, I might add. They had a great time and so did I. They enjoyed time with relatives visiting from New York; they swam, played games, visited a Water Park, went to the movies and more. (I'll post additional entries about what I did.)
If my husband had not been off from work during time I was in Bermuda, I'm certain I would not have gone for that amount of time, but all of the puzzle pieces seemed to have fit together as if this trip was custom-designed for me to JUST DO IT!
On some level, perhaps I've grown mentally! Maybe? I truly can't believe how guilt-free I was (for the most part) about not having my son with me during this recent Bermuda trip. I didn't feel selfish at all. I surprised myself. Perhaps I realized that for 10 years I have genuinely given my son all of my heart and soul -- just about every fibre of my being. So, during this trip, instead of being consumed by Mommy guilt for taking a Mommy break, I, instead, used that energy to relish in the well-needed break that God seemed to have just handed to me out of nowhere.
As I was typing this blog, I decided to call my husband at work to thank him for so successfully keeping things flowing on the home front in my absence. He said that if he hadn't been off for the time I was gone, he's not so certain things would have flowed as well as they did. "It might have been a nightmare," he said. Even though things ran quite well here and everyone stayed in high spirits, "we still need you," he added. :-)
posted by Penny Powell at
8:53 AM
2 Comments:
I am so glad you're back. You are such an inspiration to me. You're awesome.
I know your family had such a wonderful time with you being home for so long. You definitely deserved the trip.
Thanks so much, Jennifer!
Yes, my Bermuda family enjoyed my presence as I enjoyed theirs. It was marvelous, and I'm am feeling so grateful for repsonding to that tug on my heart to take this trip.
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