Through the years…..of rhythms and routines, settledness and unsettledness, change and consistency, counting and accounting, here are a few numbers and notations that have been part of who we are, formed our family, find us standing here today.
It’s fun to list.
It’s notable to take note.
There’s story in reflection.
A shallow deep dive that barely breaks the surface because humanity is complexity, contrast keeps company with us in our lived experience, cheer sketches gold all around the frame that showcases this turning of days
A bit of what our story holds…has held…a compilation of the Here-and-Now, of yesterday, of change, of come-and-go.
We’ve seen and felt and rejoiced. We’ve welcomed and bid adieu.
We’ve numbered and named, remembered and forgotten.
We’ve wished for and wondered why.
We celebrated twenty-seven years this month. I pondered for a bit the long and short of it, picked up my pen and began to write a list in ordered and unordered fashion.
A Counting and Accounting:
1 set of vows on a windy May Saturday in 1997
Holding Hands
1 dearie daughter
1 supercalifragilisticexpialidocious son
8 tractors
4 dogs each with their own personality and love and fun
Farm cats, count undetermined
2 washer and dryer sets
Innumerable loads of laundry
2 dishwashers
So Many Dishes
Toys spread everywhere,
Then not so much anymore.
Now, no longer.
3 refrigerators
Loads of leftovers
Brown Bag Specials from Sonic
McDonalds Happy Meals
Questions, questions, questions, with answers few.
5 SUVs from a 2-door Blazer to a 2013 Yukon
3 houses and finally one with ductwork
11 pickups
5 combines from John Deere to Gleaner
Multiple machinery implements
Still Holding Hands
Upwards of 514+ meals hauled and eaten in the field
Rye to pull. In every one of the twenty-seven years. A pesky and persistent nuisance.
40+ trips to Ohio
Overnight guests, family visiting, number unknown
Sundry couches and chairs, seldom new
Several sweepers and still not one I absolutely love.
Countless acres of soil turned over again and again, a year and another year,
1 Step2 little house in the backyard
1 Cozy Coupe and 1 Little Tikes Pickup, garage sale finds
American Girl and Legos
Putt-putt Saves the Zoo computer game
The longest picture ever
Imagination ~ limitless
1 go-kart for the tweens
1 treehouse
Forts, inside and out
Treasure hunts
3 p.m. snacktime
Cars and Tangled
Perhaps a baker’s dozen of bicycles
A few motorcycles
Large bookstacks
Holding the Same Hands
Gallons of iced tea, enough to fill the lakes in Kansas
Sweet corn galore
Batches of homemade ice cream
Butterhorns and cornmeal rolls
Chocolate Chip Cookies
A love of baking
Loneliness and boredom.
Disappointments, many.
Pain. Suffering. Sickness.
3 surgeries and 2 c-sections
A few stitches.
Poison Ivy
Migraine Headaches
Allergies abundant
Sweat, angst and tears, immeasurable
Desperately clinging to your hand
Arguments, yes. Intense fellowship, yes.
Ups and downs, roller coaster style.
Becoming good forgivers.
Celebrations, certainly.
Everyday enjoyment.
Delight, often and abundant,
Next to You Next to Me
Hands clasped tight.
Campfires and woodstoves.
Dreaming.
Walks. Up and down our dirt road. In the Park. Through the woods.
Banana Splits by the lake.
Bouncing on a pickup seat, open skies, checking fields of wheat.
Morning lattes at the local coffeeshop.
Shopping trips to the city.
Countless parts runs.
A life together.
Turning toward one another.
Counting on one another.
Marking moments, magnificent and mundane.
A counting and accounting.
Tossing annoyances to the wind, allowing grace to win,
Keeping track of the happiness, letting love linger.
Lamenting loss, yet turning the page every new day.
Counting gratefulness for every good day.
Squeezing your hand. Holding it tight.
Counting on us.
Beautiful!
Thank you Marcia!