My Two Uncanonized Saints
19 Jan 2016
Hello, 2016! I am excited to kick you off with this little blog post I wrote in my head during midnight rocking sessions and diaper changes and toddler chasing sessions. Our little family spent the holidays with my family in Memphis (plus one week in Nashville with Eric’s sweet family). We spent two weeks in Memphis, and during one of them, Eric was at a conference in Florida. We set it up this way so I wouldn’t be flying solo with my adorable sidekick for a whole week. And boy did I ever feel the relief. I started thinking that we probably (hopefully!) all have some uncanonized saints in our lives. What are saints but those who love and do good things? Mine are my parents.
Mommy, thank you for getting up in the middle of the night with me while my baby was inexplicably screaming for an hour. And thank you for ordering me to take a nap the next day.
Daddy, thank you for picking us and our traveling luggage circus up from the airport at awfully early and awfully late hours.
Mommy, thank you for taking walks with us and going above and beyond in helping to keep our little tiger entertained (by this I mean…helping me pick up all the chairs he overturned at the library).
Daddy, thank you for making two (two!!) full pots of coffee every morning so we would never run out. What unspeakable luxury! And thank you for baking bread and for doing the dishes and cleaning Micah’s high chair tray, every night, without fail. More unspeakable luxury!
Mommy, thank you for watching Transparent with me, even though you’d already seen it twice.
Daddy, thank you for moving an obstreperous car seat more times than I can count, and thank you for taking my baby home so I could go to yoga and knitting with mommy.
Mommy, thank you for spending every afternoon in the kitchen so that I could have such a glorious break from cooking.
Daddy, thank you for running in circles all over Molly’s La Casita (and Republic Coffee and Huey’s and that Japanese place I can’t remember the name of) with Micah so I could finish my dinner.
Mommy, thank you for buying a new car so you could fit carseats and have an automatic on hand for your non-stick-driving daughter. And thank you for figuring out how to adjust the mirrors!
Daddy, thank you for reading books and playing cars and teaching Micah how to go up and down the stairs safely. And also for letting him roll a bowling ball around in the garage.
Mommy, thank you for filling every day with your kindness and your sharp and hilarious wit.
Daddy, thank you for filling every day with joy just by being your sweet and gentle self.
Mommy and Daddy, thank you for re-scheduling your anniversary dinner (!!!) so that Eric and I could spend a night out at your condo. And thank you for instead celebrating your anniversary with fistfuls of pasta and green peas (oh wait, that was Micah!)
Mommy and Daddy, thank you for 1,000 meals, most of them at kid-friendly places, for letting your house be taken over by our little zoo, for getting up early to keep me and my little explorer company, for staying up late to read and talk with me, for delighting with me in my sweet and beautiful and hilarious child, for making this trip full of the happiest of happy memories.
And if I could just add one more little point to my case for canonization…I am pretty sure you would think that none of these extraordinary kindnesses are things that you need to be thanked for. But thank you, thank you, thank you, all the same.
Jan 19, 2016 @ 11:07:08
I second the canonization! Is that a thing? I love your parents too and this post made me really really happy.
Jan 21, 2016 @ 10:17:08
Oh, I am so glad! Let’s canonize your parents too–they are wonderful!
Jan 19, 2016 @ 14:16:35
You are so right that we need not be thanked for any of the things we did. It is our pleasure to do every single thing we did. And now it is so sad and lonely without anyone to point out the beauty of trucks, tractors, bears and cheerios. Thank goodness for the memories!
Jan 21, 2016 @ 10:16:47
We miss you too! Yesterday we watched a bobcat tear up and drill through some sidewalk, and I just wished you were here to listen to all the “Whoa!” and “Wow!” And then to go visit the bears at the pet store, of course:)
Jan 19, 2016 @ 19:41:56
Thank you for the kind words, sweet little girl! But it’s really just what parents (and now grandparents) do–at least what these do.
Jan 21, 2016 @ 10:15:33
Well, please know that you are very,very appreciated, sweet daddy! I love you!
Jan 20, 2016 @ 05:36:08
beautiful words and gratitude. I remember those days and those helping hands!!
Jan 21, 2016 @ 10:15:12
Thank you so much! I am very, very grateful for these days, but I love seeing your quiet ones unfold and imagining what wonders life will hold when my children are grown. Every season is so full of beauty and blessing, isn’t it? 🙂
Jan 20, 2016 @ 09:56:50
Hello again to the erudite and lovely Karina Davidovna! 🙂 I’ve thought about you quite a bit over the last year or so, and have generally been overcome with embarrassment, verging on shame, over making such a poor effort to keep in touch with someone whose writing, ideas, and demeanor I find so pleasant and interesting. So overcome, in fact, that I could never think of the right words to say to re-start our friendly discourse. I still don’t know what those right words are, but I have decided that life is too short to continue being embarrassed into silence by my own shortcomings. So, on a day like today, when I feel pulled to re-establish contact with people I’ve lost touch with, I refuse to be silent any longer. Sending you love and hugs! I’ll be catching up on your blog over the next day or so.
~Shelly
Jan 20, 2016 @ 09:57:23
Also, as the mother of a toddler, I second your movement to canonize your parents!
Jan 20, 2016 @ 11:27:25
Shelly, you are so sweet! There is no need to apologize at all! I am so not awesome at keeping in touch with people, and you must remember that you are the mother of a toddler too! (Given that mother-of-a-toddler thing, I think you will find that you have not missed very much around these parts after all!) It is wonderful to hear from you, and you are lovely and erudite yourself! My mom and my aunt still write each other letters by mail, and when one has been posted, they tell each other, “The eagle is aloft.” I like to imagine that many eagles are aloft, going from me and coming to me, and that sometimes they just take long detours or go on exploratory missions along the way. I know the intention is there, and that counts for a lot with me! In any case, thank you for writing! I hope all is very, very well with you and yours! Sending you lots of hugs from California 🙂 Love,
Cameron
Jan 20, 2016 @ 13:58:27
You are making me cry! You are so sweet and open and not afraid to share your feelings and thank your loved ones for what they do for you. I should thank you a million times for your sincere words and for making me think about my wonderful parents too. You have such a beautiful soul!
And I’m so glad you had a fabulous time with your family. With love, Marina.
Jan 21, 2016 @ 10:13:45
Oh Marina, you are so endlessly sweet! Thank you so much for your friendship, your kind words, and your constant inspiration to create and to love boundlessly. Your family is very lucky to have you! So much love to you and your dear ones!
Jan 21, 2016 @ 07:58:07
It is the little things in life that make the biggest impact – the small graces and kindnesses. You have illustrated that so beautifully here. God bless your parents!
Jan 21, 2016 @ 10:12:33
Thank you, Sandi! That is so true! And they are wonderful, wonderful parents:)
Feb 14, 2016 @ 09:31:00
I just want to say that Micah’s cheeks and chin are possibly the cutest things ever, which is not to say that the sum of his various parts isn’t up to snuff as well. 🙂 Your parents look rightly smitten and more than deserving of all the saintly grandparent awards out there.