And Gone for Real

Gabriel left this morning, early. The hug was too brief, the "I love yous" continued as the car door shut, and he was gone.

When my son was very young, I was hospitalized a couple of times, and my friend Tey would take Gabe to her home for TLC. I remember the visceral longing in my arms for the feel of him; when Tey brought him to the hospital to visit, I felt such a rush of joy to have him in my arms again. Now that he is grown, I expect he would be weirded out to endure a hug as long as I want it to be, but my arms hardly ever yearn for that feel of him anymore. Dogs take up most of my affection now, and after all, Gabriel is a grown man. He isn't my little lovey-dovey toddler anymore.

We spent his last day taking a short trip to Granada and having a pricey lunch in a lovely hotel on the pedestrian mall that reminds me so much of Ft. Lauderdale. The restaurant is called Dario (presumably after the great Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío) and includes a large inner courtyard garden, as seen here:

The view from our table.                 

I had beef, Gabe had red snapper, and the meal was divine!  We enjoyed some nice cabernet:

And took a selfie to commemorate our final lunch for who knows how long...

Safe travels, my darling boy.



Remember this boy, Tey?