Siblings
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Family Moments
“Family moments are the best souvenirs.” Moments. Maybe a split second decision. A window of time that surprised you, and allowed you to spend time with family. A car ride conversation. A road trip. A stay-cation. It’s the moments within in these times that we remember, that children remember. There is a five year gap between my brother and I, which to some seems like a lot, but honestly, I love it and always have. It’s one of those things, as a kid, you didn’t really think about unless somebody pointed it out. We have always been best friends, partners in sneakiness, and have always loved family. Family trips and…
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NaNa Brings Me Marshmallows
“People say I’m ‘good with kids.’ But really I’m just a grown-up who vividly remembers how positively and deeply it affects a child to be treated with kindness and respect. I just make sure to offer the same to every child I know.” – Nancy Kopman School days. There are not many days that I can remember that I wasn’t eagerly waiting for the day to be over, and the time had arrived for me to line up for “car riders.” I can still feel this overwhelming deep breath. The sight of a gold mini van, or wood panel mini van, or green volvo station wagon, or white Nissan, or…
- "Life" Books, Aunt-ing, Children, Consider This..., Family, Friends & Neighbors, GRANDparents, Mommy, Pass it On..., Siblings
Stealing Boredom.
“I find myself worrying most that when we hand our children phones, we steal their boredom from them. As a result, we are raising a generation of writers who never start writing, artists who will never start doodling, chefs who will never make a mess of the kitchen, athletes who will never kick a ball against a wall, musicians who will never pick up their aunt’s guitar and start strumming.” Glennon Doyle I came across this quote this past week and instantly I felt heard, somehow. Quotes do this for me sometimes, well most of the time. I finished up writing mine and Lucy’s forever and always family story last…
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Looking Back. Seeing His Faithfulness.
If there is one thing I have learned about the special needs (physical/intellectual/emotional/behavioral/learning disabilities/differences- lots of way to phrase this) tribe, is that you upset one of us, you upset us all. Honestly, we try to breathe and let a few things slide, but it’s near impossible to do. I have been having a bit of a need to go back and look through a notebook/journal that my mom kept for both my brother and I. She didn’t write something everyday, but she wrote the key points in our lives at the moment, and funny stories or things we said, our many doctors appointments and school meetings, things that were…
- "Life" Books, Aunt-ing, Children, Family, Friends & Neighbors, GRANDparents, Let's be Real, Pass it On..., Siblings
Do You Like Me?
But he was in his room, wasn’t he? We thought he was safe, didn’t we? What harm can he do in there? Exchange of questions between Jamie’s Parents in the 4-part miniseries, Adolescence You have probably heard of this miniseries, and you may be tired of hearing about it. I ask you, please give me a few sentences and then you can choose to close your browser if you would like to stop reading. Along with most of the world, I have been shook by this miniseries. Not necessarily by the truth it exposes, but by the guts it took to actual put real life in the homes of families…
- "Life" Books, Adoption, Aunt-ing, Children, Family, Friends & Neighbors, GRANDparents, Grief, Memories, Mommy, Siblings, Single Parenting
Savoring the Memories
“Give me the WILD children with their BARE feet and SPARKLING eyes! The RESTLESS, churning climbers. The wild ones using their outside voices, singing ALL THE WAY HOME. Give me the WONDER-FILLED glorious mess makers DREAMING of mountains and mud, and aching to RUN through the field of stars.” Nicolette Sowder Just this week my mom and I were talking about how much we miss children. Where I grew up there was plenty of space for children to play and explore, it was a child’s dream come true. I can say this because that’s exactly how I felt there. If children were not at our house, we were still close…
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A Resting Place.
How do you release your grip on something that is so close to your heart, soul, and holds years of memories? Letting go of the Physical, Holding on to the Memorable. Loosening our grip on material things, especially when there are memories attached, I find is an extremely difficult thing to do. It is bigger than the place or the object, it’s the things and the people we remember that are connected. This summer is the first summer in my entire life that I have not visited the lake house pictured above. For many reasons my parents decided to sell this lake home this year, and as hard as it…
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Five Things I Want My Brother to Remember
Today, I will be writing about five things I want my brother to always remember. As you read I pray that either you will be encouraged to reach out to your sibling, or reflect on your childhood, or the environment you are providing for the children in your life at this very moment. With this in mind, let’s jump right in! 😊 Growing up with you as my brother, I wouldn’t have it any other way! There is no other “childhood” that I would or could imagine that could possibly be any better! You were and are my personal one man comedy entertainment, and you don’t even mean to be…
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Flashback Snapshots
Photos… home videos… recordings… handwritten notes… these things mean a lot when the people in them, who have written them, made them are with us. The magnitude of what they mean when we no longer have these people physically with us, is a heart-exploding emotion. Do you agree? I tend to be the reflective, love of family history, love of history in general kinda girl. I’ve been told I am an old soul, and I can see that. I can find myself surrounded by black and white slides, vhs and cassette tapes, listening to George Beverly Shea. I find comfort in home videos, and I believe this is because of…
