when plans change

It was Friday afternoon.

The clock was ticking away and the kids were watching it move until the 1:30 magic number was reached.

Swimsuits were on.  Sunscreen applied.  Goggles positioned as headgear.  Towels draped over shoulders.

Their brains filled with thoughts of splashing and swimming strokes and rafts and diving for rings at the pool’s deepest bottom.

That was the plan.

An afternoon swim date.

Listed on the calendar.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches scarfed down, a peach following after as an on-the-go lunch so the maximum swim time could be spent in the water and not on the water’s edge.

And then.

Then the text.

The pool was not going to work out.  The chemicals required maintenance.  The algae level was too high.  The world tilted on its axis.  Times didn’t line up.  Something was overbooked.  The schedules clashed.

Whatever it was.

The plan changed.

Or, more accurate, the plan fell through.

The calendar said this was truth but circumstance said it was not.

The unpredictability of human beings and real life schedules and complications and unexpected occurrences left a ripple and a shock.

The kids’ faces were downcast.

Oh.

Man, this stinks.

Should I take off my swimsuit?

Will we ever get to go swimming?

Are you sure we can’t still go?

Is there another pool we can find?

Can you ask again, be sure, text her back?

What are we supposed to do instead?

And you guys.

I get it.

I completely get it.

I am asking the exact same questions.

Will we ever get to do this again?

What are we supposed to do instead?

Are you sure, can we ask again?

It’s the questions, the unknown, that can keep a girl awake at night.

It’s the wondering and the waiting and the status quo that isn’t at all a status quo that really can wreck havoc on your heart.

It’s the circumstances that say the exact opposite of what your plans said.

It’s the shifting and the standing there – towel in your hand, swim goggles on your head – when the pool time is cancelled and the afternoon plan looks different.

And what are you going to do with that?