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An Ode to the Out of Office

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Vacations. Holidays. The moments we seemingly build our lives around, escapes from the ordinary, underscoring what it means to depart. Proceeded by a sense of anticipation, in the days before our long-awaited time off, our bodies begin to taste the exhale, excitement building as we get ourselves situated to check out.

This might mean putting a temporary stop on the mail. Making arrangements to ensure our pets are fed. And for those in the working world, many moons ago vacation-prep was also synonymous with turning on the ultimate sign of freedom:

The out of office auto response.

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Down to the Corner

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Somewhere in the midst of the haze of the pandemic – back when days, weeks and months blurred together to form a moment in time – my parents decided to sell my childhood home. It was an emotional endeavor, one that involved sorting through over 40 years’ worth of memories that had been shoved into every nook and cranny of the house.

When I was summoned to the basement to sort through the pile of my stuff that remained despite me not living under that roof for nearly 15 years, I was dismayed by how much I had accumulated. Overwhelmed, I took it home, only to move it all again a year later when my husband and I ourselves relocated, never properly examining the contents that threatened to explode the Rubbermaid bins. 

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Then and Now

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On March 2nd, 2001 my freshman-in-college self was on a quick break between dance classes when I stopped back at my dorm to refuel. The timing proved serendipitous, because it was during this one-hour window that I got the news that my sister had gone into labor and that I should try to get home.

The call came through on a landline, as my first cell phone was still over a year away. And in the midst of my excitement, I still recall consulting my paper trifold schedule to determine how quickly I could catch a train out of Grand Central to CT.

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Ignorance – or Bliss?

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It’s a custom we undergo nearly every evening: My husband showers while I partake in a likely too-lengthy skincare routine. We share the bathroom, in one of those under-the-radar moments that speaks to the intimacy of a relationship.

The unglamorous ones that, in hindsight, make it achingly clear that you are sharing your life with someone else.

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