Face in the Window

   When I was nine years old, my mother went back to work. She had been a legal secretary before her children were born – and nine years after her first child came into this world, Mom lucked out when she found a new legal secretary position only a half a mile from our house! Mom began work for the only lawyer in North Boston, and his office was at the corner of Zimmerman and the old 219. For the first year, she walked to and from work every day, and then eventually she and Dad bought a second car.

     The plan, when Mom began her job, was that Clark and I would come home from school every day to the empty house – the door would be unlocked, and Eric, who was still a pre-schooler would come home from the neighbor's house. It was hoped that we could manage all right for ourselves for the hour and one half until Mom got home about 4:30. And even though I myself would have preferred to have my mother at home every afternoon, and I would also have preferred her presence with us in the mornings (after a while she slept in until we were all on our way to school) – this worked out. As the oldest I was technically in charge – a job I took way too seriously (and still do whenever I'm told I'm in charge) – so things weren't always smooth – but there were no deaths!

     The year that Sarah started middle school and Amanda was in third grade, 1995, we tried an experiment to see if they could get themselves ready for school in the mornings without any parental supervision. I was a single Mom at that point, and my preferable work schedule was to go into the lab very early and leave around 2 in the afternoon, hoping to compensate for the morning absence by taking them to any and all after-school activities.          So it was important for Sarah and Amanda to be able to get themselves up, fed, dressed, and to the bus stops at their respective times on their own - because if they could not – I would have to be there with them in the mornings, and then I would either have to give up their afternoon activities, or I would have to work less than 8 hour work days – perhaps making the hours up on the weekends, or else working less than full-time.

     We tried for a few days to see how the girls would do on their own. I remember calling the house twice each morning to make sure each girl was up. And to my surprise, this actually worked very well! (Not that this would work ideally for all families, I would readily acknowledge!) So we continued this schedule and quickly got into a workable routine.

     On weekday mornings, I would get up early, shower and dress. And before I went out the door, I would go to each girl's room and give them each a kiss. The kiss was enough to rouse Sarah. Both their bedrooms were over the garage – with a window from each bedroom above the garage doors.

     A minute or so later, as I was backing out of the driveway, I would see two slats of the vertical blinds in Sarah’s room part – and her little head would be just above the window sill. She would be kneeling on the floor because she was so tired, just barely awake – and she would give me a wave as I drove away!

     Many times I told Sarah she did not have to get out of bed to wave good-bye to me. But she did it every day. Until she graduated high school and moved away.

     And now every morning when I back out of the driveway to go to work – I look up in the window at the vertical blinds – and I remember the sweet little girl who was so compelled to get up and wave good-bye to me no matter how far from awake she was – heck, I can almost see her there still.

     And the rewards of being a Mom flow over me again and again, with that simple act every single morning!

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