A recent surgery required that I be off work for a little over one week.

Once I was released from the hospital, my husband took off for South Carolina to visit friends, leaving me in the capable hands of my two daughters who came from South Carolina and Massachusetts to take care of me.

Their presence was very welcome and appreciated, especially as one is a nurse practitioner.

The other is a science teacher who also practices yoga. She did her morning meditations on the patio in the shade garden, much to the amazement and amusement of our two dogs and me.

I never knew people could bend their bodies into such shapes. Naturally, anyone lying down on the floor or the ground is just sending an invitation to be licked to death by two big labs. So much for concentration.

When I wasn’t napping or sleeping, we visited and watched old “chick flick” movies we’ve always loved. One of those is “Enchanted April,” the story of four English women who go together and rent a villa in Tuscany for a month, getting away from their homes, husbands and responsibilities.

That is something we have always dreamed of doing.

We ate like kings, thanks to all the fresh produce brought from the gardens of one daughter and the culinary arts of the other one.

They kept house better than I can, and we just thoroughly enjoyed being together.

It isn’t very often I get to spend time with both of my girls at the same time, but when I do it is much like when they were young and growing up together in a busy household.

Only this time, they were much more helpful around the house. They did everything.

The week and my recovery went by quickly, and now everything is back to “normal.”

I am back at work, Ron is back home, the house is quiet— if a bit messy, the meals are ordinary and the dogs are bored.

The joy of having my daughters here made surgery and recovery almost something to look forward to and celebrate.

Almost.

It wasn’t Tuscany, but we all had a pleasant break from routine.