I live in the city, and it’s a three hour drive from my parents’ house in the middle of nowhere. From time to time, my parents have goings-on in the city, but I almost never find out they were coming until they’ve already gone and left. I’ve pointed out how frustrating this is before, because I’d love to see them when they’re in town. That’s been at least a year ago now, and nothing has really changed. So imagine my shock when my mom calls me to tell me she’s got a function in town tomorrow and even though she won’t be in for a couple hours, she wanted to ask me out to dinner.

I told her yes, of course. She sounded totally elated.

I’m sure it’s meaningful to her that I’d put off eating dinner and drive basically my daily commute back into the city center to eat with her so late on a work night, but it’s also really meaningful to me that she’d think about me on her way up to ask me out.