When Worlds Collide

This is my view at this very moment - as I write what was supposed to be my Thursday blog post.

It’s Friday. It’s 2:30 in the afternoon, 78 un-humid degrees and on the western edge of the perfectly blue sky is the faintest wisp of a cloud that might eventually drift overhead on the ever so pleasant breeze. 

Days like this are few and far between in Chicago and I intend to enjoy every second. Today all is right in my world.

The weather might hold out for another day before the oppressive heat and humidity return, forcing me indoors where I reluctantly will flip the tiny little switch on the wall that drains money from my checking account into Commonwealth Edison’s coffers.  With no escape valve, the pressure will build inside the house as the teenagers and I collide against each other in disputes over the television, the computer, what he said, what she said…

But that’s not today. Today I’m happy.

I’m happy because my two worlds met face-to-face last night - without drama, without fighting, without bad manners.

Sidebar - teenage daughter just walked out to the patio to inform me that in the refrigerator full to the brim of fruits, vegetables, meats, and cheeses….  there is “nothing to eat.”

I will remain calm.

I will remain happy.

She does not have the power to ruin my day.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Last night, my two worlds - the world in which I am a mom and the world in which I am my boyfriend’s girlfriend - last night those two worlds met in neutral territory under a starlit sky, underscored by the Chicago Symphony and Ludwig van Beethoven and I lived to write about it.  We even held hands, my boyfriend and I, and there was not one snide remark, nor roll of a teenage eye.

This is progress.

I think.

Or it might just be as rare as a perfect summer day in Chicago in which case I’m going to write about it and remember it and wonder why it just can’t be like this all the time.

But…  if the weather was perfect every day and if the children acted with reason, there would be much less need for wine in my house.

That there is need for wine in my house is a joy in itself.

                   Visit me on Twitter (@CeceliaHalbert)