Thursday, May 17, 2012

Special Days

After having driven over twenty-three hundred miles and covering nine states I am back in my humble home.  To say that I am a bit weary is no understatement!  However, it was worth every single minute…..

Time with my beloved grandson, Levi; just the two of us on our grand adventure.  How often does a grandma get such an opportunity to have her grandson all to herself.

Levi and his sister, Jasmine use to visit during the summer, but they were much younger.  This time together gave us time to learn more fully what makes us tick.

My clock says…Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
His a little more complex, but so very interesting!

Before our trip I got to see him in action as a waiter.  I was one of his customers.   Jasmine, as well as her so very adorable daughter and my great granddaughter, Ariana joined me.  We were escorted by Jasmine’s, very polite and kind boyfriend, Jonathan.  I was glad to finally meet him and how could I resist someone with that name?! Smile

It was a full trip in many senses of the word.  Full of miles, certainly, but especially full of good time with loved ones.

I drank deeply of every minute.  Papa gave me the gift of one-on-one with each of my loved ones.  From my great grand baby to my son and his wife, I must declare it was a wonderful trip!

Bookending my travels was a stop at a dear friend’s home.  It is such a gift to be able to break up my driving with an overnight at Anita’s.

She and I have been friends for thirty-nine years.  Another gift from my very generous God.
Today I was reflecting over this friendship as I did my morning pages, especially since this is my friend’s birth day.

So today is no ordinary day.  It marks a special lady’s eighty-first birthday. 
For most of our years of friendship we didn’t know the dates of one another’s birth.  It wasn’t our focus, but it is fun to know now!

I was reflecting upon how we might view a day as very ordinary, yet to many it is far from such.
We all hold many memories within our hearts.  Particular days have a way of stirring up those memories.
Memories of people and events that bring with them emotions.

This day brings a smile to my face and to my heart.
Anita calls me her earth-angel, but she was mine first!

I was a divorced mother of a little boy.
Not an ordinary little boy.  A boy with an inventive mind and a heart that longed for a father.  The two characteristics came together to make some amazing tales of that absent father.

Back in the nineteen-seventies it was much less common to be a child in a single-parent home.  You stood out and felt like you were on the outside.  As that little boy grew, it did not grow any easier.

Little League found him one of the few with just one parent in the stands.  While the other parents gave no thought to that, they did give much thought to the fact that he was not an asset to their kid’s team.  He would come to bat and they would groan.

The young boy, who had no dad to play ball with  him, only had a mom that knew nothing about sports or what little boys needed.  She came from a house filled with girls.
His mother was timid and very insecure back then.  Both she and her son needed an advocate.

Enter Anita.

Often she was the lone voice cheering this mom and her son on.
When she stepped into our life, the intent was for her to come alongside my son.  They would often spend time together and she would express her faith in him.  She truly enjoyed him.
I believe every child can benefit from having someone, who isn’t expected to, befriend them and speak into their life.

Well, the boy grew up and headed off into the world, but the two women stayed connected until this very day.

So this special day is a day to celebrate a wonderful friend.  Though my friend is growing older and is becoming a bit childlike in her ways I delight in spending time with her.  We love each other just as we are.  That truly is a gift!

No comments:

Post a Comment