Three ladies and one gentleman live in our house. The first lady is in puberty, the second is almost out and the third is in the middle of menopause. The only man in this family is therefore not to be envied, because he is a super ordered and systematic person. The fact that he also has a home workplace does not make it any easier. So it sometimes clashes here (sort of code red) and you will understand that we are not really eligible at the moment to become the ideal "Dragonfly family".
When the umpteenth discussion - about God knows what - is going on again, I flee to my office and contact my support via Whatsapp.
“This time I'm really COMPLETELY fed up and the three of them can behind the wallpaper with me”, I complain to my sister. “I'll be home all weekend” she texts back. When I arrive at the house of my sister and brother-in-law after driving an hour and a half, I am welcomed with open arms.
Because of the nice weather we sit outside and talk until well into the night. Every now and then I check my phone (because I had expected an App by now) but it remains silent. “Why don't you just turn off that phone completely”, I hear my brother-in-law say and I decide to follow his advice. I feel liberated, but it's like I'm alone on an island from that moment on.
I had slept well that night and my head was empty. I stood up in good spirits, but after a while my conscience began to gnaw. "You can't leave your husband behind for a whole weekend with those two teenagers!" I shared my concerns and when my sister also said "You will see that everything is calm when you get home", I grabbed my bag and decided to go home again. I had completely missed that a weather alarm had been issued for that afternoon, code red, storm with heavy wind gusts. My phone was still off!
Branches flew through the air and the heavy gusts beat fiercely against my car.
I broke into a sweat and for a moment I considered going back. Driving with a code red now seems crazy. On the road where normally the speed limit was 120 kilometers per hour, I (just like the rest) could barely drive 60 miles per hour. We swerved around the blown branches and regularly something banged against my windshield. I saw some road users stop under overpasses and others pick a safe spot near a gas station, but I drove on. “Oh… I have that again”, I thought and tensely grabbed my handlebars even tighter.
My whole body was shaking as I stopped in front of my house after a few hours and almost had to pry my fingers from the steering wheel. My daughters were eating pizza in the kitchen and my husband also came to get a piece. “Look, there's mommy again”, I heard him say.
“And… have you recovered a bit?”
