Using My Words

I have been focusing on the memoir I'm writing -- on loss, on love, on what makes a family -- and it has surprised me that the more words I use with my book writing, the less I seem to have for my journal or my blog. I keep coming back to this space, to say hello, or check in, and I just can't think what to say.

So hi and hello! I hope you are all well.

My husband celebrated a birthday last week and I had the pleasure of taking him out for a night. Here's a picture of us, taken in a mall parking lot, but reflecting happiness nonetheless.

We had dinner at Cheesecake Factory and got coffee at Starbucks and held hands and enjoyed hours with no sticky hands to wash or little bodies to buckle in and out of car seats. The girls had a great night having a sleepover at Grama and Papa's house.

I can't get over how blessed I am. Next month we are celebrating 9 years of marriage. I can't wait. I can't wait for that number to be double digits and then double and triple. 

I remember the longing to spend my life with someone, to be completely safe with another person. My husband is not perfect. I am not perfect. We are not perfect for each other. We are, in actuality, quite different. But I am safe with him. I know that I can tell him my dreams and my vision of the world and share my personal truths with him, and he will hold all of that safely.

This summer we're doing lots of reading around here, as all four of us are signed up for the local library's summer reading program. That means that, when I am not mothering and when I am not writing, I am reading. In one month I have read 6 + books and read several hours to the girls. 

We're definitely dripping with words around here, and we're not forgetting to use the ones we feel, like I love you. It's important not to assume that our family knows how we feel. Life is temporary. So we show and tell the love we feel, right now, while we can.

Are you using your words?