Hala is away on a work trip this week. During her past trips, I’ve been awfully good at embracing my alone time and then quickly missing her presence. This time is different though - I’ve been waking up to the soft snores of Heart keeping Hala’s side of the bed warm and asking friends to hang out when I’m feeling on the brink of loneliness. It should always feel easy to ask for support and company, but it doesn’t.
If you know me, you know that I’ve been on a mission to connect with my past self, especially through music. One of my tasks was to dig through my childhood boxes in my parents basement to find my old CDs and more importantly, the remnants of the posters and pictures that covered my teenage bedroom. Yesterday, I managed to find almost all of it and every object I found brought the sense of comfort I was desperately seeking.
My mom called me for dinner in the middle of my search and as we ate together as a family, I could have sworn I was 16 again.
It has snowed more during these past few weeks than it has all winter, but if you pay close attention you can feel the faint signs of spring approaching. I’m sure we could all use warmer weather and longer days right now.