She's Back!

SHE’S BACK! by Elaine Del Valle

December 2011—

The Girl: “I know.  I want to live in Arizona... for the rest of my life! I love the weather. I love the pace of things. I just love it!  I am an adult, and I know. I want to go to school there... and I want to stay there.”

The Mom: "You are a New Yorker through and through…We might be able to jump in anywhere... but not many places can keep us jumping for joy like the thrilling ride that is our New York City."

But still, and against my better judgment
(that made me ache to call Rent-A-Center),
that new furniture I had just purchased
—y’know the kind that makes a little girls room into a young adults room—
that was all packed up, shoved into the container of a long haul truck and shipped along with all of her clothes, car and most cherished belongings, half way across the country and off to a nice two bedroom condo rental near Arizona State’s Tempe campus.

While she was away-- I painted her room…  I thought that it might give me some closure…Okay, I ended up needing to paint 9 rooms before I felt some form of closure upon me. We are talking paint brushes, ladders, and tape!... While listening to the Pandora stations of Adele and Elton John!…which by the way, have lots of songs that make you NEED to cry …On A LOOP!

As the paint smell left my walls, I got used to--the quiet.
Sleeping through the night without the house alarm going off as she came home every night... and every morning from the echo of her dropping her shaving cream in the shower.

“Sorry, Mom.”
And I knew she was
and so I never minded.

And,    

I managed

To
Get
Used To It...

and I even
got to
myself
in ways that I had forgotten.

Summer 2012-- 

A semester has gone by.  Facetime is giving me some face time with my girl. Actually more than I had with her when she was at home.  Whole conversations are had, and I get to hear all about how she had to drop calculus but passed all of her other classes with A's and B's. Job is in tact.  Wasn’t so in love with that condo area she chose to live in anymore though. Oh and broke up with her boyfriend. Not to mention the part where she is tired of the desert’s slow motion and the KICKER...
  

The Girl: “Mommy, I think…I need…I know…I want…TO COME HOME!”

The Mom: "I hate to say I told you so…OK I love to say I told you so! After all, the more I am right, the more you listen to my future advice…But YES...

PLEASE & THANK YOU, COME HOME!"

The Girl: "Oh and Mom, Y’know that dog that you told me not to get…the one that everyone in the house would be allergic to…"

Oh no she dit- int! 
Yeah, she did!

The Mom: "We will make arrangements. Uncle Danny will agree to take the dog."

The Girl: "I can’t live without the dog! I won’t live without the dog! She brings me happiness."

The Mom: "Then you will do all of those things that you did in Arizona...for yourself...here…You will get an apartment, a job and enroll in school."

Only this time-- I get to see her beautiful face(any)time...

And be able to hold my daughter in my arms!

"WELCOME HOME! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WELCOMED HOME!"

Yesterday-- 

The Mom: "Y'know, the first of the month is coming and..."

The Girl:---REVISION--- The Young Adult: "I know, I already paid my rent."

The Mom: "You did?"

The Young Adult: "Yes, I had the money, so I just wanted to pay it.  I'm trying to be a responsible adult, and I got my dog spayed too."
The Mom: "You did."

The Young Adult/The Girl (again): "Uh, Yeah! I just gave all of my money to the vet so... can I borrow $200?"

The (PROUD AND HAPPY) Mom: "No, you can't...You can have it."

The Girl: "Okay, I'll be HOME after work, to drop off my laundry to you."

And this my friends is a very happy ending.

So far, anyway. Until next time...XOXOXO