Monday was Memorial Day, a USA public holiday to recognize men and women who have lost their lives in any of many wars. There are small-town patriotic parades and, in our part of the world, it’s when the Indianapolis 500 is held.
Memorial weekend is a family weekend marking the onset of summer. Public swimming pools open for the first time in at least 6 months and there’s a general air of relaxed, patriotic celebration.
My sons and I did not have a good Memorial Day.
To get the family together Nate (19) and I drove the hour into Indianapolis to take my other son (23) out for lunch.
I was already in a poor mood and when “the boys” began to somewhat playfully harass each other I lashed out.
Things rapidly deteriorated. Nate buried himself in his phone and shut us out. The older son went into rescue mode, trying hard to drag his family into a good time.
I immediately felt full of parent failure, and, after a period of retreating, went into verbal attack mode.
Things settled quickly once Nate and I got home. The older son has called several times.
He’s back to his old self,
I do wish I had handled myself better on Monday at lunch.
How was your weekend?
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