One day last week I sat at my usual table in the food court of the mall on my lunch break. Before I could begin unpacking my humble little lunch, I heard a screeching sound somewhere ahead of me and looked up to see my niece. She was squirming in a high chair, vibrating with excitement, squealing my name, "Mimi! Mimi!" and waving her arms over her head as if on a sinking ship, though she was only two tables away. I am so grateful for Ella, for her visits with her mother while I work, for our lunches together, the three of us (or four if Grandma's present, or five if Mads is there, too). I am grateful for the friend Ella is to my little boy. I am grateful for how excited she is, always, to see me, and I hope she continues to be excited to see me as she grows. I am grateful for the reminder in that excitement to be the kind of person, always, that deserves to be so admired by a creature such as Ella.
I am Grateful:
- to catch snippets of laughter as I walk through the mall; I am grateful for simple human mirth.
- to Wolfman, for building a tepee for Martigan in our living room.
- for an article in AAA's Go Magazine about Halloween events at east coast amusement parks, and the opportunity it provides to daydream aloud about the future a little with Wolfman.
- to Wolfman for fixing the drippy kitchen sink that was driving me so crazy, and doing it in the midst of an otherwise terrible week--the surprise of a not-at-all drippy sink, of that one thing being fixed, was almost deliriously blissful.
- for both the novelty and smell of watermelon-scented dog shampoo.
- to meet our neighbor, JoJo, during a walk, who invites me and Mads to take a tour of her chicken coop.
- that Sea Change is not one of the Beck CD's my little brother, Dusty, pilfered from my collection, because it is the perfect sound for getting Mads in a mellow mood before bed.
- for the way sinking into bed feels so particularly pleasurable some nights.
- for the opportunity to inspect and touch (pet in the case of leathers and reptile skins) truly opulent designer bags at work--that gorgeous crocodile skin Brahmin bag, in particular: I'm thinking of you.
- for fat tomatoes from my mother-in-law's garden.
- for being some of the first visitors to the Halloween aisles at Target, and getting to touch all the buttons on the displays while they still actually work.
- for the $1 plastic jack-o-lantern pail, a classic, Martigan picks up without any coaxing from us and carries throughout the store, and for the anticipation of taking him trick-or-treating for the first time this year.
I love this post! I often say that I never had any friends that weren't my cousins before the age of 10. I'm so grateful that my family had the babies in my generation within two years of each other. We've all grown to be great friends as a result, even though we couldn't be more different. Maybe it's the fact that we're "family" that keeps the friendship bond strong, the idea that family sticks together no matter what. I don't apply that philosophy to everyone in my family mind you, because boundaries are the best dang thing for family sometimes. That being said, there are no boundaries between my cousins and I (even if they plan to vote for Trump!). Mads and Ella are quite a pair and they'll be grateful to you and your sister for keeping them close through the years. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThat is so sweet about you and your cousins! Mads and Ella are definitely besties, and I hope it stays that way for a little while. I'm not planning on having any more kids, so I really want Martigan to have the kind of relationship with Ella that is almost as close as a sibling relationship, but maybe without the competition.
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