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My son Ryan and I made a list of things we needed to accomplish today and left the house early on a mission. I’m still finding things that I borrowed for the Christmas open house, and had to return some items to one of my friends. And how could we drop off LaJuan’s things without staying for a little visit, especially since she had a fire going?

Ryan decided to purchase the beautiful historic home he found in Hattiesburg and has been diligently taking care of all the things related to purchasing his first home. During the course of our day we also returned an item to my friend, Patricia, who lives in Lake David, which is about halfway from my house to Bogalusa, so it sounded like a great day for a little lunch at one of my favorite restaurants there.

We enjoyed our lunch and got up to go. I guess we got so lost in our good food and conversation that we thought we had already taken care of the bill. We were both a little embarrassed as we began to stroll out the door and remembered that we hadn’t yet paid for our lunch!

It has literally been years since my youngest son and I have spent so much time together. These moments are precious, because he will soon be in his own place again and our visits won’t be so frequent. It’s almost like going back in time to the years of his youth, but this is better. What a joy to be able to relate as two adults sharing opinions and ideas, but it is doubly exciting because we share the same memories seen through different lenses.

We barely made it home in time for my writers’ supper club. Ryan joined us this evening and got to see how his mom handles peer pressure. It just so happens that tonight I was the only conservative member of the group. We enjoyed a delicious meal, but the dinner conversation turned to both religion and politics. My friends shared their thoughts, which directly and thoroughly clash with mine. I listened for a long while as the conversation swirled around me. Finally, I felt as if I had to speak up. Although they all know that I don’t share their opinions on a variety of subjects it always seems a bit uncomfortable when I do share my thoughts.

In the end, as always, we agreed to disagree. I could chose to spend my time in closed groups with people who only feel as I do, but I enjoy my friends. They are kind interesting people who sometimes look at me as if I’m from another planet. I am totally sure that I am correct in my beliefs and nothing they can say will ever move me. But I’m quite certain they feel the same.

So many times it would be more comfortable to remain silent, but my heart won’t let me.

Jan Penton Miller can be reached at lilsisjan@yahoo.com.