…just like an old familiar tune in your head

Susan James pulls her hair back out of her eyes as she sleepily sits up in bed. It’s Saturday morning.  The sun is peeking through the curtains of her bedroom window and she hears the baby stirring in his bed.  No work today.  The slow, easy feel of a day that doesn’t require the hectic pace for the working mom.  The relaxed feeling of a day starting in a lighter, less hurried rhythm is a welcomed relief.

Susan hears her husband Jim’s light breathing as he rolls over for a few more lovely minutes of sleep.  She knows her older son, Austin, will stay in bed at least another hour.  It’s her time.   Susan pulls on her slippers, grabs her robe and starts to the kitchen to make the coffee.

Susan’s looks forward to this day.  She’s anticipating the hum.

The hum…it’s what happens when the day is tranquil.  When the pressures of the outside world are at bay.  When the children are settled and playing well together.  When the family is at rest together.  When there is no outside interference of traffic, frayed nerves brought on by a myriad of events and daily problems or deadlines to meet.

When I was a little girl my mother called it the “hum”. It’s contentedness.  It’s a certain rhythm, which comes from the familiarity of family.  It’s people living together, loving one another and experiencing their lives when all is at peace.  It’s a certain family balance created by security, stability and knowing one is loved.  What it is not, is taking one another for granted.  What it is, is knowing the safety of being loved.  The comfort of being supported. The knowledge of owning one’s own safe corner of life.

It’s humming…just like an old familiar tune in your head as you move about your day. The simple melody of contentedness in a sometimes-crazy world.

Got hum?