A Little Bit of Spoiling

Earlier this month my son, daughter, and I finally made it back home to Connecticut for a week. It has been a year and a half since we have been back and that is way too long. We missed spending time with family and friends and visiting all our old, familiar, favorite places. We live in Ohio now but, for most of us, our hearts are still back east.

It was a lovely week. We had a few family dinners. We visited my 99-year-old grandmother. I went thrifting with my aunt which is always one of my favorite things to do. My son visited some friends. We puttered around eating, visiting, and relaxing.

The first part of the week was spent near family but for the last two nights we went out to stay with friends in the northeastern part of the state where we used to live. Our families have been friends for 15 years or so. Our kids grew up together and our daughters are best friends. Seeing them again was absolutely lovely. It was as if we regressed in time and we once again lived down the road and saw each other multiple times a week.

My friend, Mel, spoiled me rotten. She and her husband took one look at me and announced that I obviously needed a break and my job for the next 36 hours was to stay in my pajamas and only do things I wanted to do. For someone who has felt for the last five million years as if she had been run off her feet, this felt like falling into the lap of luxury.

The first morning Mel met me with tea in the mug pictured above which was a gift. She had heated a robe in the dryer for me. She cooked me a big breakfast. We watched movies. We ate ice cream sundaes. She fed me meal after meal after meal. We did crafts together. See the coasters in the photo above? They are a gift to my husband; Mel made them and they are her not-so-subtle hint that she thinks we should move closer to Connecticut.

And we talked. We talked and talked and talked. I’ve seen her every time I have been back in Connecticut but they have been fleeting, rushed visits. This is the first time we have been able to simply talk the way we used to. Sometimes you simply need to talk to someone who knows all the backstory without it having to be explained. You need the conversation where you can say the things someone else might take the wrong way. You need the friend who has known you for fifteen years.

Sometimes you need to be spoiled with care and conversation.