By Every Family’s Got One Guest Writer — Joy Hedding

A Story About Broken Glass and New Beginnings

I cried over a broken glass last night. A simple, slightly larger than pint-sized glass. The graphic on the glass said, “No! You Can’t Have A Sip.”

I bawled as I swept up the shards of glasses from the floor.

Each piece…

made me catch my breath in the back of my throat.

The pinprick cuts I got on my hands from picking up each and every single bit of glass were completely ignored. I cleaned up the floor, tidied the broom and dustpan. Then I went back to washing pots and pans, attempting (and failing) to hide my tears from my family.

A simple broken glass.

A silly glass. One of many pint glasses we have. I’ve broken many things over the years but this glass breaking….it felt like a punch in the gut.

My parents recently moved. My family didn’t share much about it as we didn’t want anyone to know the house was unoccupied until it was ready for market. Many trips later, I returned with thousands of photos, some furniture, keepsakes, and these silly glasses.

I wanted the glasses…

more than anything else in the house. When I was a kid I was always asking for a sip of my mom’s drink – water, soda, coffee – whatever. Constantly. I would take a sip and promptly drain the entire cup and leave her with nothing but ice. My mom bought the set of four glasses as a joke when I was grown and married. I always used them at my parents’ house.

And I shattered one of the three surviving glasses. Into a million pieces.

I cried about my parents moving.

They are happy and healthy and doing well. The move is a positive thing that they willingly embraced and are loving. It’s just change and change is hard. Life looks different when I visit “home” now.

I won’t run out of my folk’s driveway, step over the creaky spot in the wood floor, or wrap Christmas presents downstairs while watching movies and chasing my kids away from peeking.

Growing up…

I changed bedrooms once. The furthest I moved until I left for college was across the hall.  It’s weird to mourn a house.

But then again…I’m not mourning a house. I mourning the end of a stage.

And embracing…

the beginning of a new stage. One where I get to visit my parents and see them having coffee with friends. I get to hear about the outings they go on. And I have the peace of mind knowing they’re in a place that is perfect for them at this stage in their lives.

That glass shattered and I cried a few tears. It’s time to dry them and look forward to the new memories we are creating in their new home.

I can’t wait…

to visit them again. And tell my mom how I broke her glass. We’ll laugh about it and I’m guessing I’ll ask for a drink of her coffee.

And drink it all.

This story was previously published on Joy’s blog Evil Joy Speaks

A Story About Broken Glass and New Beginnings

Joy aka Evil Joy is the wife to one Dr. Evil and mother to four children she often refers to as spawn. Joy is a snowboarding fanatic and loves to share her exploits — snowboarding and otherwise – on Instagram. She currently spends copious amount of time taxiing her children from one place to another. Frequently funny, always honest, and occasionally serious, Joy blogs about everything from dealing with messy teenagers to navigating life after PTSD. Joy has been published in the anthologies “Surviving Mental Illness Through Humor” and Only Trollops Shave Above the Knee” and has been featured on Sammiches and Psych Meds and UrbanMommies.com. Her blog is Evil Joy Speaks and you can find her on Facebook and Twitter.