Day 1 – Resetting the Llama Week: Valent-Sighs Day

My house is quiet. My cat is staring at me. Everything feels off-kilter.

What? Did you expect me to be lighthearted all the time?

Let’s settle for most of the time, shall we?

It started sometime around the holidays. “I’ll have to travel to the India office, probably in February.”

Okay, I thought, “I can handle this.” Never mind that we haven’t been apart more than a few days since his heart surgery three years ago. In fact, we’ve hardly been apart since we moved to our new home in 2019.

But he’s more than fully recovered. I am not. I came so close to losing him in the first 24 hours after his surgery. But the medical team did a fantastic job of keeping him on this earth and keeping me distracted while it happened. I found out about it two weeks later while we read his medical report in the comfort of our quiet living room.

It haunts me to this day.

And now, he’s about to embark on the second leg of this trip.

Am I worried? No.

I am sad. I miss him terribly, and it’s only been 11 hours since I dropped him off.

Can I handle this? Oh, yes! Emphatically, yes. I just don’t want to. I want to stomp my feet and yell, “Bring him back home today!”

I’ll settle for “bring him home safely and make it a wonderful trip for him,” though.

So, yes, he left on Valentine’s Day. After days of teasing that I would hide in his suitcase, I gave him a stuffed llama to take with him. In case you’re wondering, of course, he did!

What did he get me, you ask? A dozen red roses and some baby’s breath…as a Lego kit! He knew I’d need to keep my brain busy, even if I already had plenty of activities and foods lined up. (and as soon as I get my appetite back, I’ll be happily noshing away!)

Will I mope the entire week he’s gone? No way. I have plans. Depending on how things go, I might even share them with you.

For now, though, I acknowledge how much I miss him and how sad and quiet it is here without him.

“Bring him home safely, and make it a wonderful trip for him.”

Llivin’ La Vida Llama, one Lego at a time.

(NOTE: Photo credit to Amazon’s page for the “roses” he gave me.)