This lollipop tree belonged to Greg’s Grandma (GG), a woman adored by everyone who knew her.   I love this tree.  The girls love this tree.  We change it with the changing seasons, and they get such a wild kick out of the whole process.  I love the idea that this tree will be a part of their memory of “home”.  Home is like a quilt: every tiny scrap pretty, yet when pieced together with hundreds of other scraps, it becomes richly phenomenal.  The “pretty” potentiates into something the single piece could never be.

The other night, as the girls slept and the house was clean, and the The Gifts War was on track, and the To Do List was Do-Able…I felt this overwhelming sense of gratitude about our home.  Today, as I passed through the sunny places in my house, it fell over me again.  This life is just so…blessed.  Healthy, full of “enough”, full of friends and family, so very full and yet, not overly busy.  Centered.  In a country turning away from consumerism, I hope we turn to each other, because therein (just my opinion), lies the blessing in this storm.  In a perfect world, the economy would correct AFTER we become enlightened to our true priorities and BEFORE we are all homeless and hungry!

I can’t pass this tree without thinking about our Grandmas and how full of gratitude they were for the simple things in life.  How very keyed in they were to what really mattered.  How focused they were on choosing contentment and happiness.  To feel that way every day, how amazing that must have been!  I am filled with the wish that they were still here on earth with us…but then I get this sneaking suspicion that they would wish for me to carry on in their footsteps.  Eating their pie together in heaven, having a good laugh at the girls’ antics, and my graying hair!  So listen ladies…I’m doing my best.  I suspect the road ahead is long…but I’ll try very hard to keep us on track.  OK fine, I hear you.  I’ll try a little harder…and GG, thank you for the tree.