Tale of Two Coffee Pots

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Sharon

They lived apart, on separate counters, miles from each other, our two coffee pots. We married, and they moved in together, too. Same counter. Side by side on the lovely granite, right next to the fridge. One serves strong Columbian brew each morning to Mr. O. This pot’s coffee graces a dark-colored mug and remains black and pure. The other pot contains a delicious butterscotch blend, served mild with a splash of milk. Always in a white mug with a little curly-q design on the edges.

Two pots, two people, one home. Works for us!

Sometimes side-by-side-but-individual works best in a marriage. Have you found that, too?

The Gift of a Voice

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Sharon

Matt reports that Hunter debuted in this world with admirable screaming. Not as loud as his big sister when she arrived, but he announced himself in a fine and respectable (and healthy) manner. And then he dozed.

Still at the hospital, Matt puts his phone on speaker and calls home to tell the 3 munchkins that brother Hunter is born. Excited, all 3 scream into the phone in a vast crescendo that wakes up Hunter, who promptly joins in the chorus from his hospital blanket-cocoon.

Day 2: Hunter apparently learns to speak. He channels the crying voice into a call to action to all of his fellow newborns.

We’re born with a voice. Born crying, screaming, expressing. Words come with the years. We reach out to each other by building bridges of word on word. We learn to build strong and sometimes we hurl words without thinking and destroy what we’ve built. It takes a lifetime for most of us to learn much about just how to use our words.

Dear newborn boy, you’ll soon be learning to shape your voice into words. You’ll use them to express yourself in this world. Use them for good. From the first “Mama” and “Papa,” use your words to connect with your family, your friends. Use them to talk to the Word who was in the world from the beginning of time; he came as a baby boy himself, with a newborn cry much like yours.

We’re all born with a voice, crying out to communicate. Such a gift!

And a warm blanket is pretty nice, too.

Before the Ice Cream Melts

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Sharon

Maddie & Nico are in town, and we head to the playground for a play session before sundown. Then we cap off the evening with a trip to to the ice cream store. It’s crowded and noisy this summer evening, kids and grown-ups all clamoring for a scoop of creamy goodness. Maddie points to a multi-colored sherbet. Thinking it may look fun but taste weird, I ask for a taste spoon for her. She loves it! That’s the one. Nico chooses the same. We jockey for a place at a little table and sit down. They LOVE their rainbow ice cream.

“Let’s take it to show Mommy and Daddy!” They want to show off their treasure. But I know it will be a melted mess of swirly blue-pink-purple by the time we drive through the hot evening. “I’ll take a picture of your ice cream to show Mommy and Daddy. How’s that?” Yes, that’s a great idea! So I take the photos, and the kids polish off their treats.

The yumminess is captured for all time. Maddie asks me to give her my camera so she can keep the photos forever. I promise to send them to her mom and dad. I’m sure she doesn’t understand the intricacies of e-mail attachments and such, but she’s finally okay with me keeping my camera.

These ice-cream photos are kind of like the reason for the stories in this blog. Telling the stories is a way to capture the goodness. A way to make a record of the beautiful rainbow times and the sticky, messy times we have in the midst of a noisy, crowded life. Before they all melt away.

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