Day 351: Joy of Sending Holiday Cards
Category: Friendship
Day 266: Natural Nerds!
Porcelain berries! As found in Pennsylvania by my friend, Jacqueline.
Day 247: In-Laws Flashback
I don’t know about you but I LOVE pictures that were taken when I wasn’t around. I wish there was a way to time travel, be on this deck, groovin’ with my in-laws and their friends. Can someone invent this?
Day 119: Zooming with College Friends
Day 118: Childhood Friendships
Day 33: Super Bowl Play
When I was little I loved the Super Bowl because it gave me 4 uninterrupted hours to play with my friends. We used our imaginations and ran castles and pirate ships and went on Safaris. Sometimes we’d drop downstairs for some chips and dip or apple juice. The adults would be watching the game. Then it would be back to playing.
Tonight we invited our next door neighbors over to watch the Super Bowl and the wonder, for me, came from the anticipation and joy and delight in my son’s eyes awaiting to play. He waited out front then once the kids got here he showed them a new hot wheels course. Later in the night they made a fort in his old crib.
The crib was the safe place and the rest of the room was “lava” and it was that moment I remembered all the “lava” of my youth and wondered: when did the lava stop? I’m going to work on imagining lava spilling around me, again. More fun that way.
Day 2: Wonder of Childhood Friendships
Today was a day of friendship. The morning began with a visit from my college friend, Jenna, who brought her four-month-old baby, Bodhi for us to meet. He is everything sweet and snuggly and strong. I forget the built-in joy that enters a room with a happy baby. Later, my childhood friend, Matt, and his wonderful wife, Jeannette, brought their three-year-old daughter, Madison.
It was wonderful to watch my son be awestruck by baby Bodhi this morning. Then it was really cool to watch him and Madison play in my parents’ backyard. They ran up the hill to swing, jumped on the trampoline, played with my old “people house,” and shared goldfish. My mom said she had flashbacks from when Matt and I were three and two, running through the backyard playing, too.
Life presents us with generations of friendships as this unexpected gift. Adulthood can come with its challenges, but there is something magical about watching your friend’s kid and your kid play. It’s almost like they are built for each other, like the friendship of their parents is in their own genes. I wonder if this is true.
Tonight, we are still filling our cups, spending quality time with family and friends before heading back to Oklahoma. We are enjoying every minute.
Wonder Year: A journey to find enchantment every day 