Monthly Archives: February 2008
It’s taken me awhile to write and post this one. I don’t want to dwell too much but at the same time, I don’t want to push the feelings aside either. A couple weeks ago, Emma, Brooks and I watched a touching little movie on a Saturday night. Afterward, we picked up the photobook of Brody, our little yorkie who was hit by a car in VA. Emma almost immediately walked away and climbed the stairs with her head down. I followed her and found her sobbing on the bed. “Why did we have to leave Virginia Mommy?” “I miss Viriginia!”, she kept repeating. I tried everything to make her feel better, keeping a close watch on not letting my own sadness about leaving our home in VA. come out and make her feel even worse.
It must be so hard to be so young and have to make a move, especially from a place you loved so much — your first home. What am I saying? It was so hard for me too. We all loved this home in Virginia — for its beautiful surroundings , but mostly for all of the joyful times we spent there…..sitting under the 30 foot cherry tree to pose for family photos, our annual Maypole party, the summer the cicadas invaded, running and running and running all over the yard with our dogs, inspecting the ground for the first crocuses of the spring, pressing the Virginia bluebells between pieces of paper, the hours of tearing off years of vines from the dogwoods, the smell of the 70 year old boxwoods around the driveway on a cool evening, swinging for hours on Emma’s swing trying to touch the branches, dinner parties with our dear friends, birthday parties, cookouts under the stars, watching the sun rise over the hills from our bedroom, the way the sun streaked across the backyard at the end of the day, the night Emma first noticed the moon and asked her dad to get it for her, her first steps, playing “chase” in the house, playing with her dolls in the sunroom, sitting in the kitchen on the couch next to the fire, dancing to “ABCDEFG…” in the living room, the day the 18 wheel dump truck delivered the 50 tons of belgian blocks, Brooks laying each of them along the long driveway edge, our special flagpole, getting married in the beautiful chestnut grove with our family and friends surrounding us, spending our first night in our new home after a year of searching for this perfect spot…… bringing our darling Emma home for the first time….. All of these memories and more flashed through my mind as my darling daughter lay sobbing next to me.
It was then that I felt such a wave of emotion, thinking that yes, eventhough we left this special, beautiful place behind, we are in and always will be in a beautiful special “place”. It was then that I attempted to calm Emma by explaining the old saying “Home is where the heart is”. I told her that I would be happy anywhere in the world as long as I was there with her and Daddy. She looked at me and we then both cried together. Tears of joy. We are so very blessed to have eachother and such special memories together.
The photos above are two particularly memorable shots from VA.: one is a shot of Emma and her dogs (including the little angel Brody) under the magical 30 foot cherry tree, the other is of Emma lying in the grass one Spring day in her little pink tutu. I just love the look on her face….it sort of says it all….
So….the photo a day thing isn’t quite working….. At least I am thinking about taking a photo a day… that’s lame, huh?
Well, this photo and video if I can figure out how to upload it is of a wonderful day we had recently with some dear friends. On Sunday, 2/3, The Deans came for a visit from N.C. and Tonya and her daughter Isabel and Emma and I joined them for lunch and an afternoon on the slopes.
It was so absolutely adorable to see our six year old daughters hug and express their pure joy when they hugged eachother hello ….”it’s so nice to see you!” they said. Friendship. I am so happy that Emma truly “gets’” the value of friendship and feels it so emotionally. Riley’s visit was something she looked forward to and is still talking about. Having Riley made Emma’s transition to school so much easier. It was heartbreaking to see them hug goodbye on that day Jess drove them from school to their new lives last year. But, it’s so nice that they can pick up where they left off and have a great time playing, talking and giggling!
So, this Sunday’s little reunion was wonderful. And…..drum roll……Emma decided to join her friends Riley and Isabel on the BIG slope and ride the lift for the first time! This is quite a big deal for her and I was so so proud and happy for her.
I have some catching up to do…. about 5 days of photos/posts to catch up on….
Last Friday, February 1st, after we said a blessing for dinner, Emma had a very serious look on her face and asked, “Maybe I shouldn’t ask this, but….was God ever a child?” Brooks and I looked at each other , amazed at the thoughtfulness of this question. Well, we both admitted that we were not sure if God was ever a child and explained that Jesus was the son of God and came to us as a baby, so in some ways, God was a child in Jesus. Emma then said, “I actually don’t think God was ever a child…”
In fact, Emma has always asked many profound questions about God — as early as when she was 2 1/2. She asked “was there anything here before God?”, “who made God?” And, one day following the loss of our dear dog, Brody, I was saying to Emma in the car, “Remember when Brody would ride in our laps when we were driving in the car?” and she responded gently (at 4 years old…) “Mommy, don’t worry, he’s in God’s lap now.”
If we could all hold onto the joy, clarity, innocence and spirituality we had as a young child.
These watercolors are two of Emma’s latest creations and I thought they’d be a nice visual for this entry.
How wonderful it is when the days become noticeably longer. Having just moved to New Hampshire last year from Virginia, the earlier sunset each day in the winter has been one of the toughest things to get used to. But today, as we left Emma’s weekly Gymnastics class, it was still LIGHT out at 5:00 when only just a week ago it was considerable darker.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the winter time in New Hampshire — amazing snow, great skiing, skating, snowshoeing. But, I also crave the springtime and tonight’s sky made me smile.
