Sunday, June 10, 2012

The "Gozal" ("Fledgling") Returns…..


     I don't know how it is to be a mother in a peaceful country… but I am sure the feelings are the same as here:  we feel better when our kids are around. Somehow we carry within, we women, the expectations that if danger lurks beyond our doorstep (whatever that danger might be), at least at home they are safe. Of course, this is also an illusion… even though dangers are less at home, nowhere does G-d guarantee us a respite from the challenges of life.
    But having our older children around, those who are married, and who come for a visit, or a visit from sons in the army (or out-of town schools), has an added bonus: the pleasure of watching them mature, act responsibly (well, MOST of the time!)…..you get a chance to see some of the results of all the education, tears, listening, etc that carried them through the first twenty years of their life.
   Unfortunately, my married children don't come all that often, for various reasons. But this week my youngest-army son ("Y") moved back home. For a while he had been living with his older brother, but that brother is now in the states, and "Y" decided to move back home.
   In a way, the change should not be that great, as it was he was usually here at least once a week, anyway. (In addition, most of the week he is stationed in the north, too far to "pop in".)  And even though he darted in and out over the days he was home, I still  definitely felt the difference. This mother hen was very glad to have the hatchling back in the nest, glad for the additional chances to "mother" him, to share our space with him, to see this young fellow growing up.

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