Time To Dance
My mother had a bumper sticker that read “A woman’s place is in the mall.” She loved to shop and so do I. While we were on vacation last week, my daughter Rachel and I were visiting the outlet mall. When we went to pay for our purchases, I noticed the sales lady had an accent. Curious, I asked her where she was from.
“Italy,” she answered with a smile.
“Do you like America?” I asked.
She thought for a few seconds. “It is different,” she said.
“What’s the biggest difference?” I asked.
“In Italy we have a life. Saturdays and Sundays are for family and friends. Here people work all the time.”
I don’t think of Americans as working all the time, but our lives are certainly fast-paced. Even when we are busy we can still spend time with our families and enjoy what we do.
Today while I was trying to clean up post-vacation mess, I turned on the radio to my favorite oldies station. As I cleaned the counter tops, Aretha and I sang together and demanded a little “R-e-s-p-e-c-t.” Then one of my 12-year-old twins wandered into the kitchen as another one of my favorite tunes came on. I turned the radio up even louder, grabbed him, and waltzed him around the kitchen in my arms while I sang along with Dusty Springfield.
“You don’t have to say you love me, I will understand. You don’t have to stay forever, just be close at hand. Believe me, believe me, I can’t help but love you, but believe me, I’ll never tie you down,” I sang.
Those words seemed so appropriate! Now that Grant and Russell are almost teenagers my babies don’t want to tell me they love me in front of anyone, and I know they won’t stay with me forever. All I can do is hope they will stay close at hand.
Grant finished the dance with me, grinned at my craziness, and went back outside. How I wish the Italian sales lady had been looking in my kitchen window, watching me dance with my son. My life may be busy, but I love it. There is a time to be active, and a time to be still. My still years are coming; right now I want to turn up the music and dance.
