Closeness ~ Our Boy and His Cricket

Monday, July 23, 2012 -

Closeness

It's been over a month now since Jacob left for his job at camp and the first few weeks flew by! We got to see him a few times here and there and those quick visits have sustained us to get through another week. We have to opportunity to go visit him on Friday nights for a BBQ and it's a great few hours watching him work and be in a space which he loves wholeheartedly. He is surrounded by not only the forest but by an amazing circle of support and love. We've loved to have those few hours to be submerged in his life right now.

A few weeks ago we made a quick trip up the mountain to pick up a friend from camp and got to see our guy for about five minutes...it was literally a quick hug. Once we were in the car we noticed that there was something not quite right with the little miss. She was withdrawn and obviously sad. She would put her hands over her eyes and hold them there for minutes at a time. If one of us tried to talk to her she would put up her hand to block her view of us. We asked her if she was okay and she shook her head no. We asked her if she was sad and she shook her head yes. We asked her if she missed her bubba and she put her hands back over her eyes. Oh the stab in the heart.

I never quite grasped just how close these two children of mine are until that moment. With a substantial age difference you would think that there is not a lot in common there. But there is. There is something more between these two. They do have their sibling moments that surprise me and make me want to scream but there is an added closeness between them that is so subtle that I forget it's there. Her reaction that day has opened my eyes and taken me back to our family day in China...from the moment our daughter was being carried toward us our son was overtaken with love for this little girl he would forever call his little sister. And from the moment that she first laid eyes on him, she would never let him go.

So to get through these last few weeks of him being gone, we sat down one day to make a paper chain so that our littlest sprout could better understand when we can see her bubba and when he is coming home. She loved putting together the chains and counting the days and talking about her best friend. Each morning she eagerly tears one of those chains off and looks to see when a purple chain is coming because purple means, "we get to see bubba today!!" There is a light now for her...

After that quick visit several weeks ago we'd gone almost two weeks without seeing our Jacob. Last Friday night we got to see him and once Jenny got her hands on him, she wouldn't let him go. It was adorable! When he would hold her, she would touch his face or lay her head on his shoulder. She'd pat his arm or hold his hand or just follow him all around as he was trying to work...like a little puppy. There is a love there that can't be broken. There is a connection there that no one can comprehend but the two of them. They are two individuals who are connected not through blood but through love.

Forever.

Our Boy and His Cricket

23 July 2012

Closeness

3 comments: