Nothing like bonding.

Pic from FB

The children just spent six days with us.  This time around, it was less hurried or harried.  We'd done the touristic stuff before, well, most of it!  Now we just did the usual day-to-day routine things and, of course, the ever important meeting up with some family members.

It's nice when there is no deadline to beat and no timetable to stick to because it's when stories come out.  

This time around, it was a story that touched me and one that I didn't know about.  

Jared said that when he started primary school, he would carry a picture of me and if he felt lost or lonely or scared, he'd take a quick look at it.  Looking at my photo made him feel better, he said.

I never knew that he did this until he casually mentioned it.  The image of him needing to do that made my heart ache a little.  I didn't realise that in his own way, he'd found the solution to facing his own realities and fears.  He was only seven or eight then.  Even so young, he was very much a survivor, just like I am.

Did he know I carried a picture of him and his brother with me?  Each time I needed to face another challenge, I only had to look at the picture of them.  Unknown to each other, we'd both done the same thing, when we needed a boost.

Now that he is a grown man, I think he understands and values this connection that we have, in a different way.

This bond we share: there really is nothing quite like it.  Not for me, anyway. Not for him, either.