2307 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

Have you ever had your heart broken? Not by a lover but by the genuine tears of a child. Friday I was sitting at the computer blogging when my son asked me to play with him. He was home from school again because of the freezing rain that turned the world into a skating rink. The schools are so quick to shut down these days for weather that’s pretty normal for Canada but that’s another story for another time.

I told him I was busy and I couldn’t play. My wife who works overnight was sound asleep upstairs. He has two brothers and a sister but the boys are grown and on their own and his sister lives with her Mom. For all intents and purposes, he is an ^lon^ely child.

My words about being too busy to play with him cut like a knife. First, the corners of his lips sank and his voice began to quiver. “Daddy, but you are always busy and I play down here alone all the time. I just want someone to play with”

In that instant, my heart broke in two. I was the oldest of three. The first of my two sisters came into the world two and a half years after me. I don’t know what it is like to be without siblings, not really.

He tried so hard to hold back his tears but they would eventually escape his grasp, running down his cheeks one by one. He is an outgoing boy. When we go out it doesn’t take long for him to befriend other kids at the park or start up a conversation with the woman sitting at the next table in the coffee shop. I’ve seen him make friends with the guy in the next car while we sit waiting for Mom to come back from the store or for me to finish pumping gas. He is a social animal and that will serve him well as he grows up but for now, it makes it very difficult to spend so much time alone.

Needless to say, I spent a lot less time on the blog and more time playing Lego and board games. We made banana bread together and watched Captain Underpants (too many episodes in my estimation but he loved every minute.) We read books, made paper airplanes and started the final phase of his rock-spinning project. It was a wonderful week.

On Tuesday we took him to his first live concert. He had a blast dancing and singing. We saw Vance Joy in the summer and he put on a great show with no swearing or other foul language so we thought it would be a good show for Nate to go too. Plus he loves Saturday Sun always dancing around the house if one of us is streaming it.

Here are some of this week’s highlights on Greg’s Blog…

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Another great week at Five Words. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Express Yourself written by Henrietta Watson at All About Writing and more.

Perspective written by Paula Light at Light Motifs II.

Essence of a Good Life, a beautiful life quote written by Rugby8432 at The Bag Lady blog.

A Better Life, an advertisment for Fandango’s cult over at This, That and the Other. Have a read but don’t drink the Kool-aid!

Riding on the Wind, a meditative poem written by Debbie at Piper’s Adventures.

Ponderings written by Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Uplifting Spirits written tubasarwat by My Written World.

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Another slow week for Four Line Fiction…

If I’d Only Listened, was my contribution to this new weekly challenge.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

Chin Music | A T-Shirt Wisdom Wednesday graphic salute to pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training. Go Jays Go!

The Suicide of Rene Levesque | Written in response to Fandango’s Provacative Question.

The Waiting | A Rework and Revised version of The Waiting reissued for Fandango’s Flashback Friday.

I Was Certain | A Puente poem written for David’s W3 Prompt over at The Skeptic’s Kaddish

Around the Blogosphere…

Sorry I didn’t get much reading in and therefore nothing to report this week.

Next week…

Look for another Five Word Weekly on Monday, T and Four Line Fiction on Thursday. I didn’t get to Revenge last week so who knows, there may be two drop this week!

Have a great week,