Once upon a time I was the world’s expert builder of towers from dishes. I hated to stop to dry them, so I stacked them carefully and creatively as high as I could in the drain board, dish balanced precisely upon dish.
This gift for dish balancing is apparently not genetic.
Many years later my son attempted a similar feat with the pitcher of my favorite blender. He watched in horror as it tumbled from its precarious perch and cracked on the kitchen floor.
His siblings confirmed his initial fear that I was going to “kill him” when I found out (in the completely figurative sense that children often use).
When I came home, it was to this beautiful bouquet of flowers and greenery from our garden.
The flowers had been carefully arranged to illustrate how very sorry he was, and accompanied his tearful, devastated apology. I will admit, my heart was broken, but not because of a cracked blender.
I held him close and sincerely accepted his apology and peace offering.
I then clearly explained that there is no thing on earth that I love more than I love him. There is no mistake he could ever make that would change that. I easily replaced the blender pitcher for a few dollars, but the lesson that day was priceless for both of us.
While I truly love this blog, and sharing ideas and thoughts with all of you, the truth is that I love it like I love my favorite blender.
Sometimes things that really matter come up, and the blog must take its proper place in my priorities.
Lovely, happy things are filling my days, from a new position at work to boys with high school homework and hobbies, and a daughter preparing to leave us to serve as a missionary for a year and a half.
Embracing the things that really matter means that I’ll be neglecting you a bit for the next little while.
I’ll be back when family time and needs allow. I trust that in the meantime you’ll be building the relationships that really matter in your own life. Perhaps, in time, we’ll have a few dish-tower building lessons as a bonding activity.
