Throat tightening, I wave through the window as my daughter and her family leave. Already I miss the three-year-old cyclone blasting from room to room, a jaunty ponytail streaming behind her. The sudden silence deflates me. I scoop up a picture book under the couch; catch a whiff of infant cream. My heart slows. I feel the baby settle on my chest, his twelve pounds relaxing into me. Were these moments as sweet when I was a young mother or did daily demands dilute them? The past is blurry. Reliving these tender pleasures now brings bliss – when visits are short!
Mary Jane O’Neill is a retired librarian and dramatic interpreter of picture books, not yet home after celebrating her son’s wedding in France. Find Mary Jane on Twitter @MlisJane.
NANA’S BALM was a finalist in Five Minutes’ 2022 Spring Contest: Second Chances. Congratulations, Mary Jane!