Last Friday, I was gaming late at night, in the zone. My wife was on call and asleep. I stayed up while she slept, so if the phone rang, I could wake her up so she could answer it before it was too late. Most nights are uneventful, but it has happened enough that I always stay ready to spring into action.
What took me off guard this past weekend was that, instead of a call, she got a text on her phone. It was from her sister, telling her our daughter was homesick and wanted to come home.
She had an awesome day and was thrilled to be with her cousin after a few months’ hiatus from hanging out. But at the end of the night, she felt very different.
“What’s the matter, honey?”
“I’m feeling homesick. I want you to come get me.”
Wanting to jump into action but also support her by trying to work through it with her, I asked, “What do you miss about home?”
“You.”
That one word with tears in her voice, crushed my heart. Of course, she did go on to list mom and her sisters as well, but it was a heavy situation I had only seen before from a different angle.
Ultimately, after we talked through it and said our prayers together, we opted to give it 30 minutes. After that, I would check on her.
During this time, I was reminded of a similar situation from my childhood.
Same scenario, different people, many years ago
My brother was Mr Popular. He was gone almost every day during every summer to someone else’s house, and when he was home, he had a friend over.
One night, he had a friend over, whom we’ll call Guy (Guy is a name, right? It’ll be a placeholder for this story).
Guy was sad one night, crying and missing his mom. He was homesick. I tried to talk through it with him, listen to whatever he said, but nothing worked.
Well, “worked” isn’t the right word. Nothing soothed his sadness that night, and so, after a length of time, he went home in the middle of the night.
My brother and his friend didn’t have sleepovers for a while after that. They were still friends, but he just wasn’t ready for it.
Of all my brother’s childhood friends, Guy is the friend he talks to the most and will go on big trips with. He turned out all right.
40 minutes later
After seeing I missed the half-hour mark and not hearing from my sister-in-law, I made good on my promise and checked in via text.
“Sound asleep”
The text came from my sister-in-law, and I let out an audible sigh of relief.
This was the first time I had to deal with a situation like this with my kids, and it wasn’t easy, but I’m proud of her, and I know she is going to be alright.
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