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Silence is a double-edged sword. There are times when the world is just too loud - noisy traffic, people complaining everywhere you turn, and someone always wanting something from me. I just want to shut it all out and enjoy just a moment of golden silence.

Each day I am bombarded with mindless chatter, like a pesky mosquito buzzing around my head. Coworkers gossiping and complaining about each other to me, abut then saying, "Don't tell." As if life isn't hard enough already. The boss nagging at me about the same old stuff every day - things that I have no control over. I get in the car to go home and find the radio playing everything except music. One crappy 70's song crammed between the obnoxious car dealership ads and the daily death toll on the news - then I'm home.

Home - my sanctuary, my one safe place . . . is not so safe from telemarketers and needy relatives. They all call when I get home. I think AT&T has me on their speed dial. Each night while I fix dinner I juggle the phone calls between charities and telemarketers. I politely and repeatedly tell each of them, "Thank you, but we are not interested at this time."

By the time I get the dishes done, start a load of laundry and settle in for prime-time TV, the relatives start calling. Each with their own set of problems, and each wanting something of me. They say it is because I am such a "good listener." By the end of the day I am praying and begging for silence.

Then, there are those times when the silence is deafening. The house is empty. My husband and I work opposite shifts, so we see each other in passing. He is my best friend. The one person I want to spend the most time with. He is also the person who I see the least. Every other weekend we get to spend together, if his boss is being lenient, that is. Otherwise, no one is there to keep me company except the late night infomercials trying to sell me a gizmo for $19.95. It is those times when I am painfully reminded there will never be the sound of laughing children here. It is those times that I welcome and crave the noise.

Learn more about this author, Jenna Marshall.
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