Friday, February 5, 2010

The Happy Book: February 5




It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. I walked this morning, as usual, and it was dark and 14 degrees F out when I left the house. But by the time I was returning the sky was like the inside of a shell - delicate rose, apricots, lavender - so lovely. Deer and crows and my good friend keep me company. What a happy way to start the day.


I wonder where the books are and how they are filling up? It is fun to think of them travelling all over the world, being delightful visitors, endearing themselves wherever they land. I can't wait to meet in person and spend a little time getting to know all about their adventures. This is all because Jamie Ridler had the terrific idea to send them around so that people could add their own happy thoughts and pictures to each one - follow the journeys here: http://www.tnc-thehappybook.blogspot.com/ .


This is what I have to share this week:


1. My daughter was showing my 5 year old grandson his baby book earlier this week. Then when she was in the kitchen Marcus called to his older brother, "Look, Shawn, mommy laid a baby!"


2. I had a really wonderful talk with my sister this week and we've decided we have to find a way to spend some time together, just the two of us. Distance and family obligations make that difficult, but not impossible.


3. I've gotten a couple of real letters from friends recently. I LOVE getting mail - real mail. I think I'll make some time to send some hand written letters, too.


4. Going through pictures for my collage class with Kathryn Antyr I found a fabulous picture of my mother laughing with her mom. My memories of this grandmother are not as happy as of my other grandmother - she spent much of her later years lamenting her unhappy childhood, grieving over the loss of my grandfather, and then suffering a gradually debilitating dementia. This picture reminds me of how much fun she could be.


5. The happiest thing of all was celebrating my grandson's 5th birthday - making cupcakes with him to share with his class, hearing his excitement about turning 5. We almost lost Marcus last summer in a near drowning accident. That event has colored my relationships with everyone I love; I am so happy to have the time that I do with each one.


I hope you've had a wonderful week, marking your own delights and opportunities to express gratitude!

5 comments:

  1. My son uses the same expression about laying babies. He keeps asking me when I'm going to lay another one! It's so cute and funny!

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  2. Wishing you a very happy week! :)

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  3. I had a difficult grandfather. He escaped death during the Turkish genocide in Armenia but most of his family was killed and his village destroyed. In his later years, when I knew him best, he was angry and joyless and all he could talk about was the terrible things he saw people doing to each other before he fled Armenia. But when I look at earlier photos of him I see a very different person. Unfortunately I never knew that person. How much does a traumatic past affect us? I guess there is so much that shapes our lives that we can never really know that. Anyway, thank you for your post. I haven't thought about my grandfather in a long time.

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  4. What wonderful moments of delight! I love getting REAL mail too... it's amazing how rarely it happens nowadays, and how magical it feels when it does! Here are to many more cherished "happies" in the weeks to come...

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  5. I love all of the moments that you shared. I too am a huge fan of getting letter/snail packages in the mail. I hope your next week is full of happy.

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