Love Is …
Love is …
- Friends who host a teen traveling solo for the first time and show him around one of the greatest cities in the world
- Going to the funeral of my dad’s best friend, even though I never met the man, to support my dad
- Parents who gamely resume and add to their volunteer kid taxiing to and from school
- Friends who admit they are struggling and ask for assistance; if we don’t know, we can’t help
- Boundary setting that comes from experience and maturity; “no I do not want to work over the weekend”
- Long snuggles spent comforting a distraught little boy who is trying to work through a lot of big feelings
- Ending a year-long commitment that is no longer right for our family; saying no (or no, thank you) is sometimes the most right thing
- Speaking out for justice on behalf of others more vulnerable than yourself
- Getting involved in politics, even when it’s well out of your comfort zone to do so
- Reading a novel aloud to my son, who was a reluctant listener at first but then turned into a please-just-a-few-more-pages listener by the end of the book
- Beautiful, delicious meals prepared nightly by my dedicated husband, who works all day and then cooks for us
- Rededication to schoolwork and routine, and facing into new challenges
- Company matching for employee disaster relief donations (Harvey, in this case)
- Buying tickets to Hawaii for a family vacation in January, and grandparents who help fund it
- Sheltering in place at home, cool and comfortable, while California roasts
- Fluffy dogs who love and worship you no matter how many mistakes you made today
- Working with dedication and through exhaustion for months and month because that’s what’s required for your clients, your partners, and your family (I love you, Ian)
- Our magnificent Village that offers to help in some way nearly every day
- Going through beloved belongings and realizing it’s time to let some go so that other children can play with them
- Exploring Old Sacramento with our boys during Gold Rush Days, which was surprisingly charming because cars were banished from the old timey streets
- Delicious end-of-summer lounging by the pool
