Magic

"I came to a clear conclusion, and it is a universal one: To live, to struggle, to be in love with life - to love all that life holds, joyful or sorrowful - is fulfillment. The fullness of life is open to all of us." - Betty Smith A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Magic is what God can do with a sunset on the beach. It only takes 9 minutes for the sun to completely melt into the water. It is a show that people should have to pay to watch and it happens daily! Bryan and I enjoyed a few days in Naples last week... without kids. One of our favorite things to do is time a sunset. We sit in disbelief at how incredibly beautiful it is. It is impossible to be unhappy watching a sunset on a beach. It is also impossible to NOT reflect on your blessings.

I needed this vacation more than I realized. We have been married for almost 13 years, and the first time we had ever been away together without our kids was four years ago. We didn't even take a honeymoon. We were far too practical...and stupid. Needless to say, we went away alone four years ago and every year since.  It isn't that we want to get away from our kids... we just want to remember why we started this family in the first place. It is amazing what a few days away can do to remind me of why I married Bryan in the first place. He is a great man. He is the most sincere, sympathetic, and funny person I know. I don't always see it clearly on a typical hectic day in Sidney when we are saddled with work, kids, house chores, responsibilities, and other things. But, in the quiet of a dinner alone, or even a few hours without other people needing us we are able to gain perspective. We are able to remember that we used to sit on the red steps and eat bagels in Oxford, Ohio and dream about the day when we would be married and have kids. We are able to recognize that many of our dreams have actually come true. The house, jobs, kids, marriage... these are all things we wished and worked for. In fact,  we often find that most of our conversations land on Grace, Evie, or C.J., the life that we have created and how lucky we are.

I had been working on finishing Betty Smith's novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for a few weeks. It is a solid 493 pages of the main character's everyday happenings. Some were exciting, some uneventful, others devastating. We were on the plane ride home when I finished the novel and read the above passage in the novel's afterword. The beauty of life is in the loving. The loving of the daily happenings, as frustrating as they may be.  They may not be a 9 minute sunset, but when given the time to reflect on them and put it all in perspective ---they are magic.