momentous occasions...

28 years ago today i gave birth to a beautiful child. i call her my "long, brown child." my daughter, lindsey dyan. the huz and i just returned from celebrating with her. she's playing in a pick up, fun volleyball league at a local place where they have some pretty sweet outdoor sand courts, complete with those cheezy light up fake palm trees.

her friends were there. high school friends. this was the child that hung around with the notorious "wrong kind." funny though...as it turns out these kids have made mighty fine lives for themselves, our amazing daughter included. and they all stick together. are there for each other, no matter the what or why.

wonderful too is the way these kids embrace my husband and i. parents who stayed together, stuck it out. provided a firm foundation during the turbulent times our daughter weathered. we love these kids, and i'm pretty darn sure they love us too. i can tell.

on the way home my husband and i, as we usually do, count our blessings for how close we are to our children and how close they are to us. we recognized too how our maker knew exactly what he was doing when he brought us together. we're parents, don and i. that's what we were made for, what we're cut out to do. we know that about each other just as much as we know it about ourselves. i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that one day it just so happened that HE said "you, my child, are a mother" and so it was.

and so it is. because it's a work night, we left before our son arrived to celebrate with his sister. we left, along with our daughter stephanie and our son-in-law matt. headed home for a before 10 lights out. or as close as we could make it. (and it's funny...a little earlier, my son in law matt-steph's huz- made sure to order a wine for me and when the waitress asked "and who is this for?" he answered "my mom." frickin million dollar words, no?)

and now i know that right about now our son nick is arriving there to celebrate his sister's birthday, after working about a 14 hour day, no lie. the kid's a workhorse, just like his dad. and he's with lindsey, along with her friends, and her wonderful husband who we love, along with our other matt (as this one's a matt too, both matthew patricks - isn't that a hoot?).

a very close family. a family that has withstood the test of time. a marriage, the huz and i, that has weathered the most severe of storms. and we celebrate because through it all we have rested on the deep and true abiding love we have for each other. a true marriage. a family. in the purest, most honest sense of the word.

i don't care about much else in the world except this, my family. my husband, our children and the families that they've created. life's pure riches. tonight, on the ride home with my husband, the wind blowing wild my hair through the windows of our pickup, i gazed upon the fire flies glowing in the fields. like candles lit in church. only not seeking answers to prayers, but lit in gratitude for abundant blessings. before walking in the house i gazed up at the sky, the beautiful perfect moonlit sky, took a deep breath and exhaled a deep sense of gratitude. i know i write about that a lot, gratitude. but i am. grateful. for my life. for all the challenges we currently face. and knowing that with the love that surrounds me, i can make it through. with the love of my children and the wonderful man i share my life with. sometimes it's just all so big, you know?

summer night's air blowing through the window

touching my face in velvet whispers

and me, feeling mighty fine.

luv,

-t.

p.s. nans, i miss you like hell. miss my best friend, dammit!