Monday was a good day

Monday was a great day. The sun was shining, it was nearly 80 degrees outside and the wind was blowing at less than the normal 25 miles per hour.

It was a rare occasion. Brad was home from work early. I had the day off. Jeremy was home from school by 3:35 p.m. We talked about what we wanted to do for the evening. We were all tired of sitting at home watching television.

"Let's go check for mushrooms," I commented to Brad.

By the time the words were out of my mouth, he and Jeremy were putting their shoes on their feet.

We made our way to our usual spot, within a couple of minutes of looking around, Brad had spotted his first morel mushroom. The three of us started out together, slowly Jeremy and I wandered off, away from Brad.

Every once in a while, Brad would call me over to dump the mushrooms he had found into the bag I was carrying.

Jeremy and I found only a few of the tasty little morsels, we spent most of our time laughing, joking and reminiscing. In truth we probably walked over more morels than Brad had actually picked.

But it was a good day.

We walked back and forth along the trails, probably two miles -- maybe three -- unfortunately I didn't have my pedometer on. I know we spent about an hour and a half out there along the river, casually looking for the next evening's side dish, seriously talking about life and love, the future we both faced, and the past we had both lived.

We decided to try a different spot. Brad had picked all the mushrooms he could find and Jer and I had given up looking.

We made our way to Barnett Park. Within 50 feet of the truck, Brad found another morel. We walked along the walking path that led to a small pond half a mile long. There we noticed the fish working the surface of the pond. We noticed several small blue gill along the edge of the bank. We knew there were bigger ones out there somewhere.

"Let's go get our fishing poles and some worms and do a little fishing," I suggested to the guys. They were all for it.

Jer and I drove back to the house. Brad stayed to look for more mushrooms. It took us 20 minutes to get to the house and back to the pond.

We baited our hooks and cast them in the water. Jeremy caught a few fish -- none of them more than three inches long. The little devils just ate my worms and drug my bobber around the pond. Brad got a couple of nibbles.

Despite our lack of luck in the fishing category, it was a good day.

On the way back to the truck, Jer and I joked with each other.

"Today has just been to perfect," we agreed. "Something bad is going to happen tomorrow."

In all reality, we're not pessimists, we were only playing the role.

"I'll probably fall and sprain my ankle," I told Jeremy and Brad.

"I'll probably fail my motorcycle test," Jeremy told Brad and I.

Brad stayed silent. Simply listening to our bantering and watching for more mushrooms -- which he found.

We stopped off at our favorite watering hole and enjoyed a refreshment -- and showed off our bounty from the hard day's work.

Then we went home, went to bed, and slept soundly.

It really was a good day.

And I know that it's never a good thing to be pessimistic, even if it is in jest.

Jeremy hadn't been home from school more than an hour on Tuesday when the phone rang. I looked at the Caller ID, "Nat'l Guard Armo," it read.

I figured they were calling to cancel or reschedule drill. Jer took the phone. His end was silent for several minutes. Then he asked the question.

"When do you think this is going to happen?"

I immediately jumped to the conclusion that they were postponing his basic training -- he's scheduled to leave for Fort Jackson, S.C., on May 30.

Shortly after, he hung up the phone. He came to me and took me by the hand.

"Mom," he told me, "that was my Unit Commander. He said it is likely that we will be activated in April next year."

I knew the possibility was there. I hoped it wouldn't happen. I know a lot can happen in a year's time, and I know that I'll spend the next year worrying and wondering.

And I know that Monday was a good day.

And I know that I will see to it that there are a lot more days like Monday, before he boards that plane in May.