A Beautiful Day

Today has been a beautiful day. Blue skies with white puffy clouds, a little breeze and temps in the low 80s. Much more summerish than earlier this week. We are approaching my favorite time of year in the Great NorthEast.

As the beautiful days of late summer inevitably lead to cooler nights, falling leaves and the shortened days of autumn, which can quickly turn to winter, I find myself wanting to make the most of every day, despite the long dark days to come as we anticipate Kelly's surgery and recovery. Autumn will officially begin in about 3 weeks. It often seems to be the shortest of all the seasons up here. Upon reflection, the winter, that will come too soon, is really most appropriate, if I think about Kelly having to be housebound and limited in her activities, devoting most of her energy to cocooning and gaining back strength and healing.

I have tried to pass along to Kelly that today, this uncertain time, is still the best time to make the most of every day. I understand her drive to become an educated patient so that she can make educated decisions. For today, though, I wish her the ability to just let it go and enjoy the sun and blue skies. Such a noble philosophy. There aren't many of us who can rise above the worry that the unknown can bring, especially when the unknown is creeping closer ever day. Still, today was a beautiful day.

In fact, Sam, Tom and I met Kelly and Eric at Cracker Barrel for lunch. Liv and Erin stayed home to harvest tomatoes from the garden and make homemade sauce. Dan is still in San Diego. Having Sam alone was a delight. And it was sweet to see Kelly and Eric forget their troubles for a moment as they entertained Sam, asking silly questions, challenging him to that impossible golf tee game that Cracker Barrel has on every table. Papa and Eric stole some of Sam's mac 'n' cheese, but paid him back in french fries. For a short time it was all so normal.

After lunch, Tom had to go pick up mulch for the garden so Sam and I went off to the grocery store together. We were really lucky to get the only big blue car shopping cart at the store. Honest, it steered like a truck! Sam didn't mind. He is really into crashing these days. I had my list, and Sam had his. He told me that he knew where the strawberries were and that one package would not do. We must have two packages because he looooooves strawberries. Me, too. Especially the big juicy ones from California. Into the cart they went. Sam knows the Price Chopper better than I do so he was a lot of help. When I couldn't find something, he advised that I look for the store people to help me. That is a pretty simple outlook and I should pay more attention to that. Ask for help rather than wasting time and energy. Makes sense.

Erin, Tom and Peter, the teen boy across the street, spent the afternoon spreading mulch in Erin's many, beautiful gardens. I had the easy job of looking after the kids. In reality, they looked after me.

I am fighting a nasty cold and feeling "yucky". But those little grands of mine took good care of me. As I lay down on the floor of the family room, Sam covered me with a blanket and Liv put pillows under my feet and laid all her stuffed animal friends around my face and neck. I read them a little story. After that they each took a turn telling me a made up story. Sam's was all about crashes and bullets and blood, of course. He's 4. Liv is an excellent story teller. She has a great vocabulary, uses lots of inflection and has a wonderful imagination. I really enjoyed their tall tales.

Later, we went upstairs so that Liv could give me a pedicure. She filed and massaged and even applied clear nail polish. Sam watched TV but stayed close by. It was so sweet.

Dinner is over, the dishes done and the kids are bathed. Everyone is tuckered out and ready for a quiet evening. It was a beautiful day.