I was hit hard by a cold over the weekend. Hard. I'm just today getting back on my feet a bit. Probably just in time for the kids to come down with it! (We
are a family that shares!) Anyway, I had hoped to be talking about other things by now, but I just could not miss the chance to tell a little story.
Friday was one of those "crazy busy" days. It was my day to be Library Mom for one child's class, I had volunteered to bring a snack for the in-school walk-a-thon for another child's class, there was a Girl Scout meeting scheduled for after school -- you know, THAT kind of day. Then the rain came. Pouring. Hailing. Cats-n-dogs kind of rain. And there in the closet were the raincoats.
So, back and forth to the school we went. Me and my littlest helper. Checking out books to kid's in the school library, delivering coats, stopping at the grocery store, home for a little food prep, back to the school with snacks. Somewhere around our third trip to the school I said to my patient little one, "Sweetie-pete, this is what is good about living close to the school. We can dash over whenever we are needed. We are very fortunate."
There was a time when we lived half an hour from school - I could not have managed a day like this then. I said a little prayer of thanks, and then it dawned on me to call my husband. To thank
him. For the house close to the school, for the vehicle that gets me there every time, for the chance to send our children to the school of our choice, for my opportunity to stay home to raise our children and be available for them when they need me. It's a big deal. Sometimes in a family we forget to thank each other for doing their part. But Friday I stopped to say "thank you", and it really Made. His. Day. (The added bonus is that it made my day too!)
Thirteen years ago today I sat alone in the quiet morning on these steps tying a bundle of lavender from my garden with gold ribbon.
...Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. --WB Yeats 
