Looking back...seeing it forward.

"With what pleasure do we look upon a family, through the whole of which reign mutual love and esteem, where the parents and children are companions for one another, without any other difference than what is made by respectful affection on the one side, and kind indulgence on the other."  -Adam Smith.

My daughter sent that to me...just over a year ago.  She addressed her email to me and her brother, Evan, and his wife Erin.

My response back was this:

I stayed in bed this morning and watched the outdoors.  Then I got up.  I took a picture of the carriage house roof and how the sun and shadow indicate exactly what is happening.  The small, thin layer of ice is melting away, peacefully.

And then I came into my office and read your email.  I am full of tears. Of gratitude.

You bless me.  You all bless me.  All of us, every member of our small family, including Sean and Erin, bless me.

What more can I ask?  All I know is that what's happening on the roof is happening in my life, in our lives, here, today.  Any layers of ice are melting away, peacefully.  And in the mist of the cold, a Bird of Paradise is opening up.  In winter.  All is amazing.

I love you, m

When we take the time to write things down, we are free to move on.  By writing them, we have anchored ourselves in stone.  It is still there to look at.  Yet, we must move on.  I'm not sure exactly what I was writing about a year ago, but it remains the essence of what I now know.  

Live richly, marilyn