My birthday, my choice of birthday meals. I picked...no cooking for me, let's eat out! Of course, not only because I LOVE French cuisine, and the beauty of the French language, I just love the ambiance at Mimi's - so my choice was easy!
Herbs de Provence - just say that with the proper accent and see if anything tastes better. And then, there is the brie...just wonderful!
I love family dinners. I love that we laugh a lot. I love that the memories we are sharing lately are good memories, family memories. As parents, it is pretty hard to get it right all the time. I mean, these newborns do not come with a manual. It does not get any easier as they grow up. By the grace of God, our girls grew up to be practically perfect in every way. We always considered ourselves so blessed. I am especially blessed right now. Sisters who enjoy being with each other and encourage and support each other. Very different and yet very much the same in many ways. And I love that they love being with family. We are close, but hopefully we don't drive each other crazy. Jim may be the only one who really knows the answer to that little thought though!
He cared more about family than just about anything in the world. He never ever liked surprises though. He was a funny guy in so many ways and I probably spent more time that one could imagine with him on my mind today. I've sort of lost track of when it would have been his shift day, but regardless, he would have taken it off today - because it was my birthday. We would have had an early breakfast - probably down at the Dixie Cream or Peach Valley. (I had breakfast with friends, which was wonderful too!) He would have wanted lunch too, but I would have suggested a snack. We would have taken a walk around the mall (AC, of course!) and spent some time in the front yard swing. And we would have had dinner with the family. I did most of that today.
But I could not help but want to walk in his shoes today. (His golden slippers, perhaps?)
What was his day like? Could he really have a concept that this was an out of the ordinary day in our little corner of the world? Could he send me a message to give me some comfort because I miss him so much? Crazy, right? It is such a mysterious thing, the way your mind tries to sort things out. Never mind what I believe theologically. In my whole life, I do not believe that I have experienced some of the thoughts that have popping into my head lately. I am confident, however, that God will give me answers where they are really needed. I am confident too that He will continue to send me His Comforter to help me through the loss. He never fails.
Roger's Lesson: Oh, he would tell me that while it is a very good thing to think a lot and to think deeply (something I did not exercise enough) - there are just some things that you just have to give over to faith. You just have to trust. You just have to believe that things happen in God's timing and in His ways, and that it is not necessary that we understand it. He would tell me to laugh (including at myself) and to keep living.
I guess there are a lot of things that I am a lot better at than thinking deeply. Perhaps I should stick to those things.
Mimi's. Good choice. Good food. Good ambiance. Great fragrance, like those herbs de Provence. But mostly.........great family!
You are an inspiration.
ReplyDelete