Honey, I’m Home
November 21, 2009
The tables are turned; the roles are reversed. Driving home from work today (after having picked up some Chinese for dinner because who wants to start cooking after a full day at work and the Mr. hasn’t yet gotten the hang of having dinner waiting), I realized that one of the things I miss on planet retired spouse is his call at 6:15. Or 6:00. ”I’ll be home at 6:30.” And for 25 years, he was. Sometimes it was 6:50 and sometimes 6:28 but year in and year out, I had dinner waiting and greeting him as he came through the door. Of course there were nights when I was out schelpping the kids and thank heavens in those days for Dominos. But the pattern was always there. He came home and I greeted him. Sounds REAL retro, I know. Very Betty Crocker and not Betty Friedan.
But it’s the truth: my husband has retired and I miss the quiet anticipation of his return each evening from work. Dinner would be nearly ready, the table would be set. The house was quiet. Sometimes I’d be working upstairs or sometimes I’d be down in the kitchen sauteeing onions so he’d think dinner was further along than it actually was. I miss greeting him, welcoming him back home. I’ve always taken pride in creating a home, a haven for my family and that gesture of the 6:30 welcome is now gone from our lives. These days he is there to greet me but it just doesn’t feel the same.
