Her 5 o'clock phone calls
I've always been a busy woman. And I have a love-hate relationship with that. My mind does better when things are structured and have assigned dates and times. However, that also gets overwhelming and I can come off unavailable to others. I even find that it leads to isolation. For that reason, I try to intentionally set times to connect with family and friends. It's not always easy.
Recently days have felt never ending and the only thing I want to do after work is relax, have dinner with my husband, and unwind before we have to go to sleep and do everything all over again. Sometimes I won't leave the house for a week. Now, at least, I have volleyball and soccer which requires a 10-15 minute drive. I've noticed I've been using that time to call my mom. It's only a few minutes...but it's a few minutes that I could have listened to my favorite song or just sat in silence after a long day but instead I picked up the phone to call a loved one.
This reflection humbled me.
I remember back in college, my sister would call me everyday at 5pm. It would piss me off because this was social time on campus. We were hosting events, commuting between classes, having early dinner, and just "busy". She was getting out of work so of course it was convenient for her. I didn't understand before but I get it now. I'm grateful she took time from her commute to call me and catch up. It's the best use of her time and it's not that it's just convenient but she made that decision. She could've put on an audio book or called someone else.
My sister and I are still very close. There's not a day that goes by that we don't exchange at least one text message. I noticed she's been making an effort to send me photos and keep me updated with moments in her life. I want to do the same. Sometimes she'll call me when she leaves work early and joke that I was so far down in her recent call list. It's true. I mostly wait for her phone call. I don't get annoyed at them anymore. They usually make me smile. I probably should start calling her more often, though, maybe it makes her happy too. The only reason I haven't is because the best times for me are usually after work or when I commute to sports, but I know that's during the very limited time she has to hang out with her kids after school/work so I try not to bother her. But maybe it's more important for her to know that I was thinking of her, like it was for me during those 5 o'clock phone calls.