Conversation

Things have been somewhat different lately for me and the Tucker household. For one thing, some of my closests friends have been laid up in surgery or traveling to all parts of the world including England! I enjoy bouncing thoughts and ideas off the people who know me and feel comfortable rolling their eyes in front of me, feel comfortable to say "that's crazy" or "ridiculous" or perhaps the occasional "maybe so"! Since the people who normally get to hear the multitude of ideas and opinions are gone, I have had to share thoughts with those who do not know me as well. This has caused many figurative scratching of heads and raised eyebrows at Rob's latest thoughts. In a way, this gives me many entertaining moments of seeking reactions but it also makes me slightly apprehensive to reveal too many new ideas.

Meanwhile, the three sons have gone to different locations--camp, work, and a few days at a family member's home. Suddenly, my wife and I are in the house without the boys, without the constant lovable interruptions, without the sound of piano, or computer, or the organ, or the frequency of questions about what to wear, or the sound of whoops when a team does well, or screams when the team is losing, and I haven't said to pick up the shoes and socks, or to put your dishes in the sink, or go feed the cats, check on the dog, and the list goes on and on. The strange thing is that we are able to finish a conversation.

At first we were unable to converse other than a typical discussion about the boys. But eventually we found ourselves in pleasant conversation about life, the house, careers, animals (real animals, not the boys), and other such fascinating subjects that couples often discuss. We then decided to head to the small, but charming town of Fredericksburg for shopping and dinner and further conversation. I did not take my computer (I thought I heard cries of sadness from this little machine), nor did I take a book for those lulls in the conversation, furthermore, when I encouraged her to take a book, she did not and said something about talking to each other. It was all rather new and exciting for us.

We spent the afternoon going through shops, trying some fudge (delicious, by the way), and looking at many items that we placed in the "one of these days" pile for future purchase. We then headed to a nice dinner of antelope (a first for both of us), quail, steak, potatoes, and triple chocolate cake with a layer of cheesecake. I had a few withdrawal tremors here and there wondering how my computer was doing, and we both missed the boys terribly, but at the same time it was a pleasant evening.

We love our family and each boy with all his uniqueness and special qualities is a treasure that we would not trade for anything in the world, and the times when the boys are all home with us are moments of the greatest joy, but at the same time, the day was both different and rewarding. It was nice to have a little time of quiet contemplation but we also cannot wait to have the boys back with us again. Perhaps it was a reminder to take a moment to finish a conversation occasionally!