As I write this I am sitting on a plane traveling from Birmingham to Dallas. It’s the first of my two flights back to Denver.
I traveled back to Birmingham for Mother’s day weekend to spend time with my family. It was a trip that welcomed lots of laughter and much needed solo time with both of my parents.
One of the moments I loved about my trip was spending Saturday morning enjoying breakfast and coffee with my mom. We laughed and had great conversation while Stevie Wonder played in the background.
Growing up, music was always a staple in my home. My Mom had the best vinyl collection around. Her collection included the likes of Stevie Wonder, Sugar Hill Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, Prince, Michael Jackson, The Time, any other R&B favorite you can think of from the 70’s and 80’s.
As I think back on my upbringing, it’s no surprise that I would become a true music aficionado.
There is no love like the love experienced from family.
Another favorite moment of my trip was the time spent traveling to and from the airport with my Dad. It gave a time to just chat.
We also hit the town for a little bit Saturday night and shared a few drinks at one of his favorite bars. It was nice to see him in his element and having a number of people come up to greet him. He’s quite the popular the guy.
For years I’ve neglected spending time with my family. I was focused on doing my own thing and making my own way in the world. I neglected to let them be a part of my life.
Back in January of this year I committed myself to creating a different relationship with parents. I vowed that I would no longer neglect them. I promised myself that I would come home more often and spend more time with them.
I feel like I succeeded in that with this trip.
It started by not renting a car. I intentionally limited my mobility and focused on spending time with family instead of catching up with friends and visiting my old stomping grounds.
I also made it a point to limit my work. I brought work home with me this trip because I knew there would be some downtime. Instead of spending the morning doing work, I decided to spend a large portion of the morning connecting with my Mom. We talked and laughed, and she caught me up on all of the happenings. It was great.
I also, made it a point to not influence in any way where we went for dinner. My brother and I treated our Mom to dinner and we completely let her choose the location.
As someone who loves brunch, I had the thought of treating her to brunch and then leaving the evening open. Instead of choosing for her, I made it a point to let her decide what she wanted to do. This should have been my first thought, but I have a history of wanting to be the decider on such things. Not because I am controlling or anything, I just like for people to experience something cool and new. But alas, this weekend was not about me, it was about our Mother. As a result, she had a great time and went home with leftovers.
This weekend was a major success. I did everything I set out to do and I am so grateful for the time shared with the people who mean the most to me. Life is good.
Originally published at medium.com