No More Ordinary

It was a good day for a family dinner. All three of our adult children were in town.  It's been a long time since that has happened and it was wonderful. The weather was unseasonably warm for December and our granddaughters, Kathryn and Lea, played outside with the bubble makers that Amy brought them from Japan.  Millions of bubbles, or so it seemed, floated all around the house.  It was a beautiful sight, the bubbles catching at just the right angle, creating a prism effect. "Magical," I thought.

More beautiful than the bubbles was seeing my children together after so many months apart. Adults now, they were close growing up and they are always able to pick up right where they left off. They played with the bubbles, delighting in the fantasy world they created, as much as the little children did.  Laughter floated through the air as well, tinkling upward melodically to reach me at my vantage point, standing by the large kitchen window and holding my grandson.

The smells of the dinner added to it all--roast beef, ham and freshly baked rolls created a symphony of aromas.  The wine was poured, the dishes placed upon the table.  We all sat down for a family feast--a celebration of the goodness of just plain being together.

It ended all too soon.  The predicted ice-storm cut the day short, ending early in the evening.  Erin and James longed to get on the road early.  Before their departure, we took family pictures--all of us together--as well as individual shots; our recorded history, this is what we looked like at this time in this place.

It will be many months before we can all be together again.  Jeff headed back for Washington, DC the next morning.  Amy has since returned to Japan.  Like many families these days, ours is scattered far and wide.  We don't have many days that we can all be together, just the occasional opportunity like this one day a week ago.  There is no ordinary any more, only special events, one at a time.  One day--one dinner, marking a special occasion, an event in the lives of us all.