Patience is a Virtue

Several months ago, my devoted husband made the wonderful suggestion that I join my daughter on a summer trip to a college roommate’s wedding in Italy. In fact, he went so far as to suggest that I make it a mother/daughter outing which I have longed to enjoy. Well here we are, the night of the flight, drinking wine with the younger daughter (Emma) at Logan Airport. We just learned that our overnight flight to Paris has been delayed thus our connection to Naples—the city closest to the wedding venue—will be missed. Immediately I went into panic mode and thought many unhelpful things about how this would turn out. But thankfully, my two clear headed daughters had other plans.

Between the two of them—Emma and the one in Philadelphia (Grace)—they worked out a plan where we will make the situation work out. The outcome is still to be realized since I am writing this while waiting for our flight from Boston to Paris but the fact that they did not panic is something this mother is incredibly proud of.

Patience is a virtue which we are told to practice at all times throughout our lives. It is a goal which often seems unattainable during the more intense periods of life. But it is out there nonetheless as the gold standard, the thing which we should strive for. I often wondered why until this evening when I witnessed my daughters handle a tricky change in international travel plans with grace and patience. Grace is flying from Philadelphia straight to Naples because as she says, “I despise overseas connections.” Emma is traveling with me, her dear “old mother” from Boston with one connection through Paris which we envisioned as something quite romantic since she speaks semi-fluent French. It turns out that we will need this skill since our later departure from France means we will have a 5 hour layover, if it all turns out well.

The point of this short blog is to suggest that whoever coined the term “patience is a virtue” was quite right. I am more than thankful for my wise daughters and their ability to patiently wade through the delays which await us on the way to Naples and then Ravello where Emma’s college roommates will be married on Thursday. This trip is a sacred opportunity for a mother to spend precious time with her two young adult daughters in a beautiful place in the world. If it takes a little longer to get there, so be it. Whatever happens, I know I will be learning many new things from them—most importantly, that patience is most certainly a necessary virtue to live a meaningful life. Stay tuned for more updates from Paris and Italy—if all goes well…