Family visits a cherished time

We have a habit on Sunday evenings. We call our sons shortly after they should have finished supper in Calgary.
It’s been ongoing since they left home for university more than a decade ago.
One might think that with Twitter, Facebook, Facetime, and Skype, the old-fashioned phone call no longer would continue to be used. But it is our preferred way of keeping in touch.
As the Sunday afternoon wears on, and “60 Minutes” winds down, I’ll say to Marnie, “Do you want to call the boys?” She’ll look at her watch and wonder if the time is right or if we will be interrupting their Sunday meal.
I’m told that sons are very infrequent callers but daughters are more likely to make the call to their mothers on a very regular basis.
My youngest son, when he travelled, always used the expression, “If you don’t hear from me, I am safe.” But it never made us any more comfortable when we didn’t hear from him for several weeks.
As parents, the calls are important to catch up on their lives and lives of their partners.
Last week, my eldest son, Brendan, and his significant other, Eleni, joined Marnie and me at the cabin on Rainy Lake. It had been almost a year since we last saw him and the week was truly welcomed.
Eleni had never been to Ontario and everything at the cabin on Rainy Lake was a new experience. The weather, thankfully, was perfect.
We toured the lake, pointing out to her the “rock paintings,” the “Mermaid,” the Pine Island Monument, and French’s Castle.
On another boat trip, we travelled north up to the falls from Mainville Lake into the Big Canoe River, then back down through the canoe channel under the Causeway and Five Mile lift bridge.
Afterwards, Brendan showed Eleni a satellite image of Rainy Lake to give her an understanding of how big it actually is. In fact, Rainy Lake if the fifth-largest inland lake in Ontario (excluding the Great Lakes).
We fished and Eleni caught her first bass, northern, and walleye during her week here. Brendan had her jump into the lake. She canoed and picked blueberries that she enjoyed in pancakes and muffins.
She also took a small container of Northwestern Ontario’s favourite fruit home with her.
We tend to spoil our children when they arrive home. Marnie will have whipped up her mother’s chocolate chip coffee cake, along with three or four different cookies. The freezer will have been stockpiled with beef roasts, chops, steaks, ribs, and chicken for barbecuing, roasting and smoking while the kids are home.
The leftovers will be meals for Marnie and myself for the week after our sons and families have left.
Having one son home was great. We don’t often admit that we miss our children when they are not near, but I suspect that every parent will admit to an emotional disconnect when they live far from their home.
But we encouraged them to pursue their dreams and careers wherever that may have led, and probably enjoy them more when they are home visiting.
And when Brendan and Eleni pulled out of the driveway Sunday morning, both Marnie and I shared a moment of loss again, but know they will be back.
And our youngest son and his future bride will be home for Christmas this year.