Staying Close

My husband and I talk on the phone several times a day. He is in an assisted living and with the Covid situation, I have not been able to visit him since March. There are other ways I have been able to spend time with him but not specifically able to go visit at the facility.  

He called a short while ago.  Some times we sit on the phone and really have very little to say.  In an ordinary day there's not much out of the ordinary that goes on to make headlines out of! So, we just sit and say a whole lot of nothing.  Some calls are perhaps twenty minutes long like this. Not very exciting. 

One thing he said, though, was "it's just a way to be close to you!" That was about the most tender thing he could have said. I reassured him that if we talked "a hundred times a day" that it would be OK with me.  We both admitted that the longer the pandemic has such strict guidelines in place for his safety the harder it has gotten.  We both are very grateful, though, that the administration is keeping residents safe. 

Both of us say things that are more tender lately... little gestures, comments to make one another smile, words of love. I really don't like the saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" but this absence is one that I would never have dreamed of.  Indeed, to not be able to hug, hold a hand, give a kiss, sit and visit, not only to a spouse but others as well, yes, it is hard. 

It's not Valentine's Day, but these are the days that our words matter.  These are the days that because of distance, we may have only words of expression. So, why not tell a loved one what they mean to us, something tender, something loving. It's one way to stay close!