"Hello Mom"

Those words are priceless to me from Caleb. Our conversations are brief - only six more words - I say I love you and he says it back. It's the tone I listen for. I see his face. He smiled the other day. When his caregiver came back to the phone I said I knew he had smiled. She confirmed.

"Yes, right now he is laughing and slapping his leg. He seems happy."

Exactly what a temporarily banished mom needs to hear.

Caleb is safe.