I read an article about a man who saw a last glimpse of his grandmother on Google maps. You know, the site where you can zoom in and see your home(or anyone's home) in close up detail. It's a satellite photo and Andrew had recently posted on Facebook that Penny(his dog) was in the photo of his old house in Austin.
I logged on and put in your address, Mom. I hoped to see you in your back yard, watering plants in your pajama's. Maybe it would have been on one of those early mornings like the ones when I was visiting with the babies. I'd wake up and you would be outside, hose in hand, watering your plants. I hoped for one last glimpse of you, but it wasn't to be.
It's been almost 4 years. How could it be 4 years without you?
QUIET LESSONS IN BREATHING DEEPLY... Lessons I'm learning along the way of parenting my 4 boys(or attempting to learn anyway)
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Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 08, 2013
Missed Calls
About 30 minutes later I found my phone and noticed I had missed a call from Michael. I checked my voice mail and heard a strangers voice with loud sirens and screeching in the background. He said in a nervous but clear voice. "I am calling for Michael. He's been in an accident(he drives a scooter) and is being loaded into the ambulance."
I went numb. I tried to call his phone back but it went to voice mail.
I began frantically searching for clothing while holding my phone and repeating "Oh my God, Oh my God". I couldn't find anything to put on.
I still have no idea what I wore. I told the boys to put on shoes and Jim said something about going to the hospital and calling me, to which I replied simply, "I am going".
The boys and I drove. they asked if Michael was alright. I couldn't answer. I remember saying quietly "I don't know, but we'll be ok". It was as much for myself as them. I called Andrew and left a message. I called my sister and parents.
I knew he had been taking his girlfriend to work and going to work himself. I was worried about both of them and it seems cruel to make someone find a parking space in this state, I told the boys.
We made it to the ER and were taken to Michael. He was wearing just boxers and covered in blood. I walked into the room and around to the left side and noticed the giant hole in his arm. He was shaking from the pain, so I tried to hug him and he cried out. His body was raw from road rash but miracle of all miracles, his face and head were safe! I touched his hair the way I did when he was a baby.
He had to have surgery to repair missing bone and his wound on his arm. He was in the hospital for 3 days.It was a moment in time I never want to repeat but I am so thankful to have had that moment in time with him! Another reminder that every moment is so precious!
He is working to recover and we are now battling the other drivers insurance.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
They really don't fit
James is **gasp** almost 10. In my mind he is still so tiny. It's hard to imagine that he is halfway to adulthood. the reality set in this morning.
James has insisted he has not shorts most of the summer and I have insisted he just wasn't looking hard enough. This morning I was encouraging him to speed up his dressing so brought him an outfit. We needed to leave for science camp and he was taking far too much of his own sweet time.
He walked in, shorts halfway over his hips and said "they don't fit". His size 8 shorts, that look sooo big, really were stuck at his hips. They really don't fit! This of course means he's not a tiny boy:(
James has insisted he has not shorts most of the summer and I have insisted he just wasn't looking hard enough. This morning I was encouraging him to speed up his dressing so brought him an outfit. We needed to leave for science camp and he was taking far too much of his own sweet time.
He walked in, shorts halfway over his hips and said "they don't fit". His size 8 shorts, that look sooo big, really were stuck at his hips. They really don't fit! This of course means he's not a tiny boy:(
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
How much I've learned...
In the years since I started this blog so much has changed. My babies have become boys, my boys have become young men and the one who started it all, my Mom, left me here(well, not really but it felt that way for a bit).
My babies are teaching me to stop. I don't often take moments to decompress and just be. When Gavin was an infant I couldn't even sit still long enough for him to nurse. He would often nurse, legs dangling and me doing something or chasing someone:). I joke now that he learned to eat on the go, but really I feel a sense of sadness for him that I started his life off with my sense of urgency to "do it now". I have been trying very hard to really listen to my sweet 7 and 9 now year old's, they will be gone before I know it! Can you believe James was a baby when I started this blog? Babies for but a moment in time.
My boys are teaching me that boys really do become men, far sooner than we imagine. When they are men you cannot protect them from mistakes like you could as babies and boys. It is so much easier to be a mother to tiny tots than to boys and boys becoming men. You have to trust that the background noise playing in their heads (you know, all those things you said you "would never say again" or...)will help them make good and safe decisions, and just love them along the way! And now I wish I could say all those things for years more.
My Mom's death taught me more than I can even explain to myself. I thought I would break into tears at the thought of her for the rest of my life, I thought I would never be me again, I thought I would feel alone and empty like I did that first year, forever. I didn't and don't. I miss her so much but it doesn't feel like an open wound anymore, I feel whole and secure and happy she was who she was. I accept that she was a flawed but amazing woman and I accept that I can be flawed and amazing, too! More than anything, I know that those last days I told her what I needed and she heard us when we told her goodbye.
My babies are teaching me to stop. I don't often take moments to decompress and just be. When Gavin was an infant I couldn't even sit still long enough for him to nurse. He would often nurse, legs dangling and me doing something or chasing someone:). I joke now that he learned to eat on the go, but really I feel a sense of sadness for him that I started his life off with my sense of urgency to "do it now". I have been trying very hard to really listen to my sweet 7 and 9 now year old's, they will be gone before I know it! Can you believe James was a baby when I started this blog? Babies for but a moment in time.
My boys are teaching me that boys really do become men, far sooner than we imagine. When they are men you cannot protect them from mistakes like you could as babies and boys. It is so much easier to be a mother to tiny tots than to boys and boys becoming men. You have to trust that the background noise playing in their heads (you know, all those things you said you "would never say again" or...)will help them make good and safe decisions, and just love them along the way! And now I wish I could say all those things for years more.
My Mom's death taught me more than I can even explain to myself. I thought I would break into tears at the thought of her for the rest of my life, I thought I would never be me again, I thought I would feel alone and empty like I did that first year, forever. I didn't and don't. I miss her so much but it doesn't feel like an open wound anymore, I feel whole and secure and happy she was who she was. I accept that she was a flawed but amazing woman and I accept that I can be flawed and amazing, too! More than anything, I know that those last days I told her what I needed and she heard us when we told her goodbye.
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