It is early here this morning and I am up before the boys - the first time in several weeks. Most mornings it is them waking me up, crawling into bed with me, prying my eyes open with their little fingers, asking "is it time for breakfast yet".
I feel like I've been a bit of a downer the past several weeks...maybe even a bit longer than that if I stop to think about it. Friends call and ask in a quiet, serious tone..."how are you?". I want so much to answer with a cheerful "Im great, how are you"? But they know.
And that has kept me from being here in this space too. You see, many of you have become such good friends. And Im afraid if I tell you all about the pillow I sewed, the colors I chose, the stash busting that is going on around here, that you will know Im putting up a front.
There has been so much loss and sadness all around us. I do not want to pretend that sadness and grief does not exist. And I know I am not the only one. Several of you are feeling losses of your own. You have been so brave and generous sharing your own stories with me. And I am comforted knowing there is hope and grace on the other side.
I am ready to be happy again.
Because really there is still such beauty and goodness in the world.
I am learning that loss and love CAN happen simultaneously in the same story. It does not have to be one or the other. They are not mutually exclusive. Like so many things in life, there is a great irony in that.
So for awhile, I have decided to post about happy things.
Small or large, things that make me smile.
:: a little needlepoint picked up at a boot sale that speaks truth
:: feeling the ever so slight tilt toward autumn
:: nature in my boys' hands
:: morning coffee
:: friends sitting around my kitchen table, sharing our stories over coffee and a bowl of cherries
:: evenings at the beach, my favorite time of the year
:: my boys and their developing sense of humors
:: acorn and butternut squash in our csa last week
:: three more weeks before school starting...we've got a lot more summer to live here
Hope you are well. Much love to you today.