Having spent each of these past seven nights falling peacefully to sleep in Barry’s guest room, I can’t believe how quickly a whole week has sped by seemingly in less time than it takes to blink twice, suggesting that my concern about over-staying our welcome was for naught as everyone invited us to remain through the weekend ahead, which was tempting until this old saying came to mind: Always leave’em begging for more ...
Needless to say, even when life feels great, a reality check deems it's far from perfect:
Steven’s family of three arrived home from Mexico fighting the flu, while David spent much of the week ensconced in a cozy corner of Barry’s spacious U-shaped couch (which seats ten), nursing a sinus infection, exacerbated by bronchitis, and though my youngest son felt physically miserable, he was thankful for family time and non-stop football games, which absorbed his attention while the rest of us enjoyed each other’s company from morning till night ... with these exceptions: Marie had to go to work, and Tony and Ray (ages seven and six) being brothers, had to spend time separated in timeout, now and then, so as not to kill each other, because, like brothers the world over, they easily get tangled in each other’s hair at the least infraction of their attempts to share the same play space. However even then, my spirit smiled each time I heard echoes of my words flowing naturally forth from Barry’s mouth whenever my eldest son had need to mete out consequences, which made such sound use of common sense as to train the unruly nature of children’s minds away from engaging in unsociable behaviors in favor of emoting mutually respectful kindness.
“Toys are for playing not fighting—if you can’t stop fighting then this toy will be placed back on the shelf until you choose to treat each other with kindness and respect .”
“We do not insult each other. You’ll both remain in time out until you each think of a true compliment to say to your brother.”
“You are both good boys, who know better than to have done what I just saw happen, so please write letters of apology to each other.”
In the aftermath unsociable interactions, time spent in time out is preferred to taking privileges away, because upon resorting too often to the latter, power struggles between parent and child are exacerbated as small fry develop naturally into strong willed pre-teens.
While we were enjoying family time on the coast, college friends, residing in Seattle, arrived to winter, over these next three months, near our sunny home in the southwestern desert, so we’ll look forward to catching up with our snow birds once we've unpacked and refueled. You see, Will and I are not young grandparents, suggestive of the fact that we have less energy to expend in our seventies than would have been true had we been keeping pace with Tony and Ray a decade ago.
As to missing playdates with Ravi, she and Steven plan to be with us for dinner, and I can’t wait to hear her three year old spirit squealing with joy as she runs into my open arms feeling every bit as eager to find herself wrapped within her Gramma’s loving embrace as I am eager to play Lion King with my grand daughter’s lively imagination ...
And so, tis easy to see why I, feeling deeply blessed, take note, quite often of life as it clearly proves to be, offering my spirit countless reasons to feel happy, peaceful and soulfully enriched though leaps of faith and personal growth spurts will surely challenge my intuitive powers to think deep as 2018 sees my intelligence advancing ever so cautiously toward proactively embracing insight-driven trains of thought, spotlighting my good fortune so as to ease my heart’s way through the inevitable reality of sustaining irretrievable losses, which classically accompany old age ...
Though none of my valiant efforts to post videos of our New Year's Eve party (enjoyed with several families whose children are similar in age to Tony and Ray) met with success, here is a photo taken on New Year's Day outside of the restaurant, over-looking the ocean, where our family lunched with our niece (my flower girl of fifty-two years ago) her husband and their grown sons
The smile you see reflects my spirit's natural appreciation of life's simple pleasures whenever my good fortune feels crystal clear
The necklace I'm wearing, given to me on Mother's Day, was created by my dear friend, Katie, who was fifteen when Barry (who squired Katie to their senior prom) brought her home for the first time during their sophomore year in high school
Over the years, Katie (whose elder son is now a sophomore in high school) has come to know her friend, Annie, very well ...
(when working to achieve a heartfelt goal)
Over the years, Katie (whose elder son is now a sophomore in high school) has come to know her friend, Annie, very well ...
The disc dangling at the end of the chain worn round my neck is engraved with three words:
💖Never Give Up😃(when working to achieve a heartfelt goal)
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