I want to write something normal, not something heady, insightful, or politically informed. I don’t want it to be about illness, depression, guns, or require a bunch of research. I have discovered some contentment has slipped in unbeknownst to me during the last couple of decades of life.
In the next week my husband and I will have been married 25 years. Wow. Never thought I would marry, have a kid, be a Girl Scout leader, or teach Sunday School. Life unfolds in unexpected ways.
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Public Smiles
I need to write simple stories about shopping for dinner in Trader Joes with Hubby and asking him to get pre-pared green peas because I still do not like to snap the ends off after entire summers spent shelling peas and snapping beans as a kid. I want to write about the woman with the beautiful white hair who was also choosing vegetables as we were, who broke out in a grin when she heard me say that. She had shelled a fair number of peas from pods in her lifetime. It is nice to make someone smile.
Kisses That Make It Better
I want to write about how happy it made me when my daughter Face-timed me the other day to ask me about a bad cut she’d just sliced into her finger. We discussed stitches, cleaning, wrapping, and other things when I leaned over kissed her finger on the screen and told her it would be all okay. She laughed and said that was exactly what she needed. She is 24 and lives 1500 miles away, but sometimes she still needs Mom to kiss it and make it better.
The Scent of a Memory
I found peonies in the flower section of a grocery a few days ago. It was wonderful. I do not see peonies, lilacs or any of the flowers of my childhood in Arizona, period. Every time I walked by them, I stuck my face into the bouquet and breathed in the silky sweet scent of my grandmother’s garden.
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I cannot wait to do a non-break-neck-edly paced road trip with the Hubby this summer to see sights and wonders neither of us has managed to visit in our multiple scores of years on the planet, and visit our kids and grandkids and finally make it to Niagara Falls. It is good to get out of Arizona in the summer for a while, if you can. This year we can.
Tonight as I write this, I’m enjoying the golden glow of this Honey Moon before the Solstice – and that is enough to fill me with a calm peace.
Sometimes we just need to stop and enjoy the little bits of regular days in a regular old life.