The Waiting

They were waiting for me when I exited the train station.
'Stop being a pansy and take the stairs,' Matt texted to me while I waited a solid 5 minutes for the elevator to creep it way back up to me.  No way dude, these are BlogHer bags. They weigh a ton.

Grace refused to nap, despite the fact that Matt had taken them on a three hour tour of Fort McHenry. She focused on her American flag trinkets, counting the moments until I emerged again. I was greeted with 'I Love You's,' 'I Missed You's' and the inevitable, 'Why did you go on vacation without me Mama?'.

I whispered stories of my walks all over NYC. I saw her statue. I touched a bull. I sat on a motorcycle.
She whispered back with stories of feeding cows, singing our anthem and eating cupcakes with friends.
We both had grand weekends.

Then she remembered the empty suitcase I left with, and it's promise to be full upon return.

After emptying the suitcase, she looked at me and said, 'Mama, I like it when you go on vacation.'