Respite

A dear friend invited me to her cabin last weekend. There were obstacles and hurdles but we made it and I sighed a deep exhale.

This friend and I spent the weekend talking, connecting, laughing. She cooked for me and I lingered on the barstool nearby and sighed again – someone else cooking for me. Nurturing.

My husband is one of the good ones. He participates actively in the household and the raising boys. But still, this weekend away was something I sunk into. Someone who cared about me – cooking and washing dishes so that I could truly get rest. What a gift.

We would talk for hours and then I’d slip away and lie in the queen bed by myself, the door shut against the quiet wilderness and only my friend on the other side. I would read or sometimes lie there daydreaming. 

When I stepped back out she was there and we would chat, I’d share thoughts that had leaped into my head in the moment just before. No thoughts were intercepted by one, two or three other people needing something.

We walked. We did yoga while gazing at the frozen lake. We watched snowmobiles zip by. We talked about everything essential, life changing, and true.

A respite is an opportunity to shift and start anew. 

When I returned home at the end of the weekend I felt that I was ready. 

The next chapter begins..