My Mind Is Everywhere. My Heart Is With You.

The bracelet on my wrist is a piece of costume jewelry that I bought at a little store on the Champs d'Elysees in Paris in the early 1990's. I bought it not because it was anything particularly "French" at all but because of the saying imprinted around its band. This trip was one of my first experiences with travel. My husband and children were at home and I missed them. But at the same time, I was so excited to be in Paris and to be seeing things that I had never known I would see. It's because of this that I purchased the bracelet.  Its saying resonated so perfectly with what I was feeling at the time...."My mind is everywhere. My heart is with you."

Since that time, I've taken many trips and have had the joy of sharing some of those trips with people I love. My mom, my sisters, my husband, and my daughters have all accompanied me on various travels to various places. I love to experience new destinations with the people I care about and, sort of as a natural progression, have happily assumed the role of "planner of trips" in many cases. It's a role that I've taken on by osmosis but a role that I've worn proudly and hopefully managed successfully.

So it was today that I was a bit taken aback to realize that a role reversal had taken place - almost without my noticing, without my permission, without my forcing. And what a wonderful role reversal it is. 

I was excited to have the chance to plan a mini trip to Chicago to meet up with my daughter, Mollie, who will be in the city on a business trip all her own. I tried to take control from the beginning telling Mollie...."you just tell me where you need to be and I'll figure out what will work best for us" as far as when and where to meet, where to stay, how to get there, what to do. No sooner were the words from my lips when Mollie had suddenly taken the reins.

"Mom, this is what we're going to do. You will fly into Midway and I will pick you up after my last appointment that day. We will stay overnight near the airport and then in the morning, drop off MY rental car and HOP on a train into the city where I have a hotel reserved (already planned for our early arrival). We will spend a couple days in the city center and when it comes time to go home, we will get back on the train to the airport. Let's get on the phone and ticket our flights (on Delta of course, because that is where Mollie earns miles) and we can be sure to get our seats together on the flight home."  

Before I could even edge in a few "but shouldn't we do this?" questions, she had the plan in place and we were moving forward.

What?? How did that happen? I am supposed to be the one who makes the plans! But suddenly this child of mine has taken control, made the plans, and you know what? I kind of like it.

There were many times when the kids were growing up, that I worried about my traveling. I always promised that I would never miss anything major - I would never be gone for a birthday or a holiday. But to be honest, when you occasionally travel for your work, those major dates aren't really the ones that matter. When you find yourself somewhere far from your family and no matter how wonderful that place might be, you still recognize that you are missing something back at home - dinner after a day of school and work, bedtime stories, being there to comfort when someone has had a bad day or isn't feeling well. I had lots of those kinds of moments and though I valued how important they were, I also knew that it was important for me to be able to pursue what I loved to do. I think...or maybe just hope...that it made me a better parent.

When I could, I would try to share my travels. And I think...or maybe just hope....that I instilled a bit of travel-lust in my children and that I've been able to share some amazing experiences with them along with my sisters, my mom, and my husband. 

So today, as I had this amazingly wonderful and weird role reversal conversation with my daughter, I touched the bracelet on my wrist and remembered how I felt, what seems like a million years ago, and how it feels now - somewhat on the "other side" - with my children grown and actively pursuing their own lives and loves, and yet, I think....or maybe just hope....that they are carrying a bit of what I've shared with them along on their journey.

"My mind is everywhere. My heart is with you."