Friday

I sat with him, stroking his thick brown hair, running my fingers up and down his arm…long, but small at this beginning of awkward size he has reached at 10.

He was home, sick, today and asked for a movie, not just a movie though…he wanted me to watch with him.

Funny how that hasn’t changed. He loves presence, feeds on touch, notices absence and craves interaction. He always has. Even as a baby, I could see his eyes look deep for connection. He was content and slept alone, but he nursed long, snuggled deep and gazed while I rocked his tired soul to sleep.

I did have a few “have to” chores, but met him in the living room as soon as I could. I wasn’t snuggled up close with him. His stomach bug was more than I wanted. I was near though. Near enough to reach him once in a while and remind him he’s loved.

A fever follows the interruption of a virus. He was warm. He was flushed and still. I encouraged him to enjoy quiet. To sleep some, read some, rest much…and he was ready to cooperate. No arguments to napping at all.

We lit a fire in the fireplace, the cool rain outside seemed to beg for a warmer environment inside, we needed that fire. He ate homemade cran-apple gelatin and I crunched on toasted homemade bread, and we lost ourselves in Narnia for a while.

He told me about his book, and listened while I explained a story in the book of Samuel.

We laughed a little, and twice he ran to the bathroom to free his stomach again. Each time he quietly waited while I warmed a clean washrag in hot water so he could bathe his face. He never complained, just shrugged and said, “I think I feel a little better.”

I asked a lot of questions. “Do you want anything?” was repeated a lot.

I sat through an episode of a cartoon I could live without, folded laundry on the floor and brought him a glass of water.

The dishes waited. The floors still need the broom. The dust is still there and the windows are no less smudged.

In fact, if someone asked me what I did today, I’d probably say, “nothing,”

…but I wouldn’t mean it at all.