Celebrate This Week; Last Minute Gatherings

When I think about time and how I spend mine, I think about commitments, like teaching and meetings, and PD. I think about other necessities like grocery shopping, errands, and laundry. I think about the good-for-me stuff like exercise and sleep. And I think about other pursuits like writing, reading and knitting. I think about keeping up with family and friends, over meals or in phone calls and texts. I try to squeeze in as much as I can each week. Sometimes I look ahead on my calendar and think to myself that there is not much open time in the coming week. I worry I may not get it all done. I wish there were more hours in the day. I wonder if I’ve said yes to too many things.

Which leads me to my celebration this week. Last minute gatherings. The kind that you can’t seem to plan for months because schedules don’t line up and we are all too busy, busy, busy.

I enjoyed two last minute gatherings this week. My daughter Frances sent a text to her dear friend Jack, his mom and me late Monday afternoon asking if our families could meet for dinner that evening. Two hours later we gathered around a table at a restaurant in town and shared laughs and stories with our recently returned college children. It was perfect. As we all hugged goodbye, Jack’s mom said to me, “We could never have planned this.” And I replied, “I know. Last minute get-togethers are just the best.”

On Thursday morning my friend Heather asked me if I could walk with her after work. Heather and I live at opposite ends of a four mile long country road. We love to walk from one end to the halfway point and back. We haven’t seen each other in months. She’s been traveling and I’ve been busy. But Thursday afternoon happened to be wide open for both of us. We walked and talked for an hour, catching up about kids and life. When we finished we hugged and both commented how glad we were that a last minute plan to walk had worked for both of us.

This week I’m celebrating last minute gatherings. The love and laughter, the hugs and high fives, the talking and listening. The time. Just the best.