Spring

No, it's not spring yet, even though the freshly scoured sky after last night's storm encourages the delusion. But there is a little bit of spring in my heart today.

My three kids have shown no interest in domestic ties. And that's okay with me. Certainly I do not yearn for grandchildren to complete my life. I just want them to make choices that make them happy, whatever those choices are.

Well, my oldest son is 35. He has lived for a number of years with a delightful and very intelligent young woman, but the topic of marriage has long been a taboo subject. So I was astonished when Ben called me last night to announce that he and Christine were getting engaged, and would marry this summer. My son is a bit of a curmudgeon, but I could hear an unaccustomed sweetness in his voice.

And why should this make me feel so springlike? I don't know, I don't know. But I feel sort of giddy, like on the first warm day at college these many years ago, when the only thing to do was cut class and gather on the sweet-smelling campus green to talk and daydream about the many joys and triumphs that surely lay ahead for us.