Coming home to a cold, dark, empty house is such a sad feeling. I’ve never liked it. Even if all of us were coming home together, I wanted a light to be burning some place in the house to welcome us home. When my children began to go places without me, I would always leave the front porch light on and the door unlocked. As they began driving, I would leave the front porch light on, the door unlocked, and wait up for them. Now that some of them have moved out and have their own homes, if they leave after dark, I stand by the door and wait until their tail lights go up and over the big hill and go out of sight before I turn off the porch light,
Fortunately for me, as each one grew up and moved away (as it should be J), there would be another teenager to leave the porch light on for. But with the passing of time and my increasing age, I found I couldn’t keep the same hours as my last teenager (son #4), and would sometimes go to bed before he got home. But during the night some time, I would wake up, see the porch light was off, know the door was locked, and he was home safely.
Recently, son #4 was married. After we got home from the wedding celebration, I began to lock up the house and turn off the lights, walking over to the front door, I reached up to turn on the front porch light and realized I didn’t need to leave it on.
“Leave it on,” I said to Myself.
“There’s no reason to”, Myself answered. “He’s on his honeymoon, I don’t think he’ll be coming in tonight.”
“But just in case there’s an emergency”, replied I, knowing that there wouldn’t be.
“Well, maybe just for a little while”, Myself gave in.
But eventually, I had to go back and turn off the light and lock the door. I was surprised at the sudden feeling of loneliness that was brought about by this simple ritual of turning off the porch light. Although this signifies another chapter closing on Enloe Farms, there are still lots of stories to be lived out, talked about, and retold around our dinner table.
Just a note, I still have 2 teenagers at home, but they have to be home before dark! J
The Porch Light
The porch light shining through the night
Reminds me of God’s shining Light
That brings about some wayward soul
Who is lost in the world so dark and cold.
I leave the light burning on the porch
So none of my children will be caught in the lurch
The light breaks through the darkness dim
And guides them home to me again.
What a poignant story. Thanks so much for sharing with us. When my daughter was a teenager, I sometimes had difficulty staying awake. She would always come into my room and wake me up and let me know she was home. I love that she did that. I would have preferred to stay awake every time, but sometimes I just couldn't. I love the poem you put at the end.
Thanks Regina…When my kids were younger, seems like every noise they made woke me up, so it wasn't hard keeping track of them. I guess I was younger, too, and didn't need as much sleep. :)Thanks for the encouraging words.
Our children are all married now, but I did the same when they were teenagers. Thanks for bringing back those wonderful memories. Back then we never worried about locking the doors. Now I wouldn't be able to sleep if the door was unlocked.
Love your blog and look forward to enjoying your stories and poems.
Thanks, Neva…looks like you guys are really enjoying retirement. Love the stories and pics on your blog.