There's no sound a mother loves more than a telephone call from her adult child inviting her to hang out. It doesn't happen all that often and sometimes there is an ulterior motive attached but when the invite is as string-free as the one I got the other day, well, there's not much that can top it.
This chance to spend some time together came out of the blue. My son announced that he was taking his girlfriend to the local casino the next day and asked if I thought my mom would be interested in accompanying them. When I stopped laughing (my mother, an inveterate gambler who has never been known to fold any hand of poker, would spend her last hours sitting in front of a slot machine if she could), I encouraged my son to give her a call. A few hours later, I actually heard back from him. "We're meeting at noon tomorrow. Do you want to come?" he asked. (Just as back story, the entire family has been promising my son's girlfriend a trip to the casino since she turned twenty-one six months ago.) While I may not like gambling as much as my mom (that wouldn't be hard), there was no way I was passing up the chance to spend an afternoon with my kid, especially when it was an afternoon I hadn't coerced him into.
Somehow, I ended up leaving the place $125 richer (yes, I finally won something on those stupid two cent machines). But that wasn't the best part. After losing money at the casino, my son agreed to have a late lunch with his dad, his grandparents and me. We didn't have much time together (my dad, great guy that he is, had to run to another obligation for his other daughter) but at least this time it wasn't my son itching to leave as it has been in the past. Not only did he hang around after my parents left, he also showed up two days later for dinner and the Olympics at the old homestead. I know it sounds crazy but all this surprise togetherness made me feel a little like Sally Field after she won that Oscar.
He likes us; he really, really likes us.
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