I could have titled this post "A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do."
Or "What it looks like when a mom gets to do something really special."
Or "Why I'm still not over my jet lag."
No matter what I called it, this is what I would show you:
That's one of my favorite photos from Spring Break. As you can see, it's taken in a modest restaurant. But this modest restaurant is in East Asia, where I went to visit my oldest son.
The last time I saw him was August 13 of last year. Here we are just before I put him on the plane,
when I was valiantly fighting back tears:
Truthfully, I didn't go all that way to see more of the world. I wasn't dreaming of international travel. I didn't need to rack up frequent flyer miles. I just wanted to see my son. I wanted to catch a glimpse of what he's doing, to share a bit of his life.
Somehow it doesn't seem like that's it's been too long ago that my son and I looked like this:
But as you might guess from my floral pajamas, this was taken was 1991, and at that time Will was utterly dependent on me for everything. I'll be honest: during my time in East Asia, I felt almost as though our roles were reversed. Since I knew nothing of the language or the locale, I was pretty much dependent on Will for everything. And God bless him: he took awfully good care of his Mom.
The end of my week in Asia brought a big treat. Before I came home, Will and I got to fly to Beijing, China, where neither of us had ever been. The very best part of that trip? Driving out to the countryside and taking a little climb:
And here's my favorite. I
instagrammed this photo with the caption: "Hard to beat climbing the Great Wall of China with your firstborn."
Later, Will instagrammed the same photo. His caption? "Great Mom. And a wall."
For that, my friends, I'd fly a long, long way.
Have you ever traveled a long distance to spend time with a loved one? I'd love to hear about it!