Yep- it happened. The day after the wedding (Sunday) was a long travel day, and we arrived home in the evening, exhausted but happy to see the cats! Monday I had to work- I was running on fumes, but still riding a high from the weekend. Tuesday I finally had a day off, and it all came crashing down… it’s over.
Initially I thought I would have some sadness over the fact that Paul is now officially an adult with his own home and family, apart from us. Yes, there will always be that sadness- the separation that started when he went to college, and progressed through the years- but like the loss of my parents, it’s a sadness that’s woven into my overall happy life.
I can’t be too sad though, because I can tell that Isabel really, really loves him. What more could I ever hope for? We’ll never stop worrying about our kids, but knowing that he’s gone to someone who truly plans to love and cherish him, forever, makes me worry much, much less.
No, my current sadness is just a post-event letdown. The days leading up to the wedding were incredibly full. Isabel’s family did almost everything themselves for this wedding, from turning their friends’ backyard into an incredible reception venue, to making all the floral arrangements (bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, and flowers for the church) to making the cake… so when I got there I was immediately thrown into the activity. I steamed tablecloths, stapled programs, ran to the store, carried chairs- and I loved every single minute of it.
All the events were incredibly special- the bridal shower, the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, and then the wedding itself was a beautiful, perfect day- I can’t think of one thing I would change. It’s so hard to have everything end. It’s like my post-Christmas depression, but the difference is, Christmas will come again! Every year! This event will never happen again. Sob.
I know I just have to get through this lull. And I tell myself that this specific event will never come again, but there will be others. A year ago I didn’t imagine I would be having this experience, so there are other experiences waiting for me that I can’t imagine yet.
Keeping this post on a melancholy tone, here’s two sucky things that happened while we were gone. A few years ago I wrote about our pet rats, and- who knew?- not everyone likes rodents, so I haven’t mentioned them again. But we’ve had them ever since… until this past weekend. One of them died while we were gone. It wasn’t unexpected- she was old and we knew she was slowing down. I just felt so, so terrible for our petsitter! This poor girl- a friend of my daughter’s- found Lucy when she came on Thursday. She was very upset and didn’t want to bother me, but texted me asking what she should do. I told her that unfortunately Lucy had to be taken out of the cage, and after that she could do whatever was easiest for her.
She and her dad decided that Lucy was a pet, and therefore should be buried. They came over with a shovel and buried her in the backyard, and put a brick over her to mark the spot. I was so touched by that, and I also felt so bad this happened while we were gone! Yes, I paid her handsomely and am giving her a bonus gift. Hopefully she’ll still come feed our animals when we go away!
The second thing is, the water heater decided this would be the perfect time to die. Well, it still worked, but I came home to a small flood in the garage. Of course, my husband stayed in Chicago to spend a couple extra days with his sister, so I had to deal with it on my own. I had a vague idea that we owned a wet vac, but I’ve never used it. I really didn’t want to text my husband, “Hey there! Hope you’re having a great time! No special reason for asking, but where do we keep the wet vac?” I managed to find it and suck up the water, but of course that was only a temporary fix.
Anyway! My husband is home now! I hear him out in the garage, grumbling and cursing, a serviceperson is on the way, and we have no hot water. Fun!
As usual… onward!
Do you get post-event letdowns? What do you do about it?
Top photo by Vita Leonis on Unsplash
