She has a given name but I call her Peach, so that’s what we’ll go with. She has no idea of her full power yet, but as you can see, she sure does have a hint. She was born when I was expecting a boy and has continued defying my expectations ever since.
She’s the one who sent the text. She started it all.
She and her brother went through way too much in way too little time. Their family breaking up a few years ago was only one of the traumas they experienced and I’m not even sure it made the top two. I nicknamed that time ‘Life Falling Down the Stairs’. Light was leaving their eyes in increments. All of our eyes.
We know when our children throw up an SOS, and an early morning text asking me to drive to the coast was as large a signal as she’d ever sent. Against everything practical, we were on the road the following morning.
What followed have been the miracles the Universe floods you with when you say yes to its request. Miles upon miles of trail have been covered, more miracles granted,and many adventures had; from the kids getting tattoos in Idaho to making a concert in Canada with only six hours notice. Sometimes healing comes in the form of circled wagons. Also, kids talk in cars. A lot. Especially when you drive far enough away to lose signal. That’s when the magic happens. There’s a reason we run for the hills.
‘What if I’d said no?’ That single thought still brings tears.
How many ‘calls’ are we swiping out because we don’t recognize the number?
Answer dammit.
Postscript: It’s assumed the older children are, the less impacted they are by divorce. I challenge the moment you find out your family is broken, you are a small child again. Furthermore, at the exact moment children are supposed to be the most self-centered, while they launch their lives, they’re forced to think about anything but themselves. They’re immersed into thinking of nothing but their parents and saving each other. Every memory has to be rewashed for evidence and their ‘grown’ status makes way too much information available to them. When everyone thinks “What about the children?”, they generally, and sadly, mean single digits.
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