This past week, my wife and our 12-year-old son Jacob were out of town at a baseball tournament.  As a result, the house was strangely out-of-sorts.  Our routines slightly thrown off.  The quality of our mealtime dropped off significantly.  The volume was down a few notches.  Some things were just a little cockeyed.

Most of the things were off because of Charlene and Jacob’s absence.  A few things were off, because I saw an opportunity.  One of my opportunistic grabs was the opportunity to shine light into Jacob’s bedroom.  A typical 12-year-old type thing to do, make your room cave-like.  I suspect that this preference will take place until he someday finds a life partner.  Until that time, I just imagine him returning home to a preferred bear-like setting.  Opportunity, noted.  Raise up the blinds.  Open the door.  Let the sun shine in.  Ah, light.  Sadly, however, a sign that one of my boys was gone.

Well, today our family was reunited.  A beautiful sunny day for their return.  We had a nice dinner.  The boys all got along.  My wife was ravishing, as always.  Things were good.  One thing however was still a little off.  Jacob’s room was far too bright.

Washing some clothes, I brought some items up to Jacob’s room.  Opening the door, I smiled.  Darkness had returned.  Everything was as it should be.  My boy was home.  To borrow a quote from “Field of Dreams,” “There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place…”  Things were right again.  The room was dark.  My Jacob was back home, one of my steady sources of joy and light.