The Circle of Love

The capital city, new apartment, two daughters- Sarah and Katie and a loving husband Steve. After ten years on the west of the country, we moved to the east side of the country because of my husband’s new job offer and this time the move was a big and joyous moment for my family as this was the position he had dreamt forever since I had known him. When I take myself back to the day he got the offer, my heart played in joy to see the light in his face that I hadn’t seen in a very long time. Though this was going to be my fourth move after I got married to him, this move was special.

Well, as you must pay prices for everything, there were some associated with our new move. Finding the right school and preparing kids to acclimate to the new culture and environment was tough and even tougher when you barely knew anyone in the city. With our thorough research, we were able to find the school that we believed will be best for our kids. Given that it’s the middle of the year, it got me more worried about them. Kids had a hard time making friends as almost every kid has chosen who they want to be friends with. On one typical Monday during our mother-daughter time, I asked my girls who were their best friends at school and they both took each other’s name. I couldn’t utter a word but stare at their face endlessly until I find my answer to what they meant by that. After Steve got back from work and had his dinner, I quickly finished the chores, well I don’t remember if I washed the dishes, because the conversation I had with my girls was replaying on my head on repeat mode. I spoke to Steve about kids and he replied, “I care about them, but you have no idea how much trouble I am facing to fit in my new work now and I really need some rest for tomorrow.” He just made an overly caring statement and twisted it with a completely negative connotation. As I probed him for an explanation, he told that all his colleagues are well settled, and their wives earn equally. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I had no idea what I should say in return. Everything seemed unknown and distant in this city and this time it was him.

Meanwhile, Sarah from other room screamed “Mom, can you watch me go the bathroom?”. She feels scared at night to go to the bathroom by her own. Though my mind wasn’t ready to get some sleep, all day long household errands tired my body and I fell asleep. Next day the alarm goes off like a typical morning and but this one didn’t feel like others, my husband was growing distant from me, my kids couldn’t adapt in the new environment and I wasn’t sure what was next. Being a mother and a wife does demand a heart of gold that is selfless, generous that loves her ones with tenderness endlessly. I knew I had to do something to bring joy and happiness in the lives of ones who meant the most to me. We had a tradition of celebrating our kids birthday every year with all their friends from school. Sarah was turning 8 in two days and I wanted to give her the same celebration this year. I spoke to Steve and we threw a birthday party and invited Sarah and Katie’s friends from school. The kids enjoyed a lot and my daughters were never as happy as they were that day ever since we moved to the new city.

The next evening, after running some errands, I went to the kids' room. As I walked in, they paused their conversation. When I probed them, what was their new secrete, Sarah had a paint box in right hand and left hand resting her chin, asked me something on a serious tone, “Are you sad because you can’t be an art teacher in this city? She handed me the paint box that was one of the gifts from her birthday and mentioned with excitement that she saw an art center beside their school and asked me to start teaching art there. Right there and then, I felt something divine in her eyes. She felt my emptiness that even Steve hadn’t noticed in months. I have been painting since I was 14 and had been working as an art teacher for over 10 years but unfortunately, I lost my job after we decided to move.

I knew I had to do something about it, 3 days later, I dropped off kids at school, I went to the art center for a job interview and came home with a job offer. It has been 3 years that I have been teaching art there and I love working there as it gives me a sense of my purpose.