Good Intentions

Written for Magpie Tales. 😉

The warmth from the fireplace made me forget the harsh November wind that blew outside the window.  I sat in the dark den with the light from a single lamp and the glow from the fire.  I was looking at all the treasures that lined the shelves around the fireplace, each one a memory :photos from our family vacation to the mountains, a seashell collection from our summers on the beach, the plaster handprint Sarah made when she was in kindergarten, and David’s trophy. 

He was so proud when he showed it to me, “Look, Mom, I was the best Bible quizzer on the team!  He was nine but I was too busy to notice.  I was trying to get my business off the ground.  Every time thereafter when he would get a ribbon, award, or small trinket; he would put it in his cup.  By the time he was eleven, the thing was stuffed full of cherished items.  He brought it to me and held it up and with a huge grin across his face said, “Mom, my cup runneth over!”  But again, I was too busy to share in his happiness.  We were in the process of selling our home and buying another larger home in a better neighborhood with better schools.  I was doing it for the kids.  A tear of regret rolled down my face.  I thought that I would spend more time with him once we settled in to our new home, and then once summer came, or once we had money saved up for a summer-house.   But there was always something that got in the way.  All he wanted was me but instead I gave him a big house in an upscale neighborhood and “stuff!” I looked at his photograph in the frame on the table beside me.  He was a handsome sixteen year old.  My heart ached thinking about him living so far away with his father.  When he wasn’t in school he was playing sports or working shifts at McDonald’s.  I understood that it didn’t leave much time to call or write his mother.  If only I could go back and make things right.

“Mom, do you want to play a game?”  Sarah came in the room holding a deck of cards.

“No, honey, Mama’s worked hard this week.  She doesn’t feel like playing.”

Sarah’s face fell as a deep sigh escaped her lips in defeat, “But, you said that you would tonight.”

“Well, I had good intentions.  There will be other nights, Sarah.  We’ll have plenty of time later this week.”

 

Comments and Critiques welcome.  : )