Mother's Day

Thank you for the  good wishes on Mother's Day. It was a lovely day.

All my children came and spouses and grandchildren and three beautiful great grandchildren. Some were not there and  were missed but I'm not complaining.

Heather  and Andy were hosts. Before we got there ,Andy arranged all the bright cushioned chairs in full sunshine in a square that filled the patio.

He was frying bacon and pouring omelets and turning hash browns when we arrived The waffle iron was heated up and turning out waffles. Strawberries and  whipped cream in heaping supply.

Baskets of home -made muffins with fresh blueberries and  great puffy brown croissants had  a place on the crowded table. Coffee and orange juice with champagne were libations of choice.

Emma ,the youngest of us all,  with a  tiny curl in the middle of her forehead ,sat on my lap, as good as gold and gazed with  aplomb  at all the faces. leaning forward for a better view  around the circle and accepting loving attention as her due.

Cheyenne and Abigail moved amongst the crowd taking advantage of circumstance to do exactly as they pleased,making sure never to strike a wrong note that might call attention to their activities.

Abigail a particularly slender seven year old,  was never seen without a munchy in her small fist   They made waffles in the kitchen with Adam supervising them. I saw Abigail with at least two waffles  with whipped cream after the strawberries ran out. Then Belgian chocolate cookies caught their attention.

My children give me most satisfaction in the pleasure they take in being to-gether. None leave a gathering without a  round of hugs, kisses  and expressions  of love.

Babies and children delight  us all.

Significant  others  are welcomed to the circle no matter how large it grows.

Heather's Andy has been one of us since he was six and she was an infant. He shares all our memories and we share most of his.

Visitors  from New York were at the gathering.  For fifty years, a cousin of the late Dad,Grand-dad and great Grand-dad of our family has made the annual excursion to visit the only relative left on her father's side of the family. They had very small families.

Susan's father died before there were memories to share. When Cyril died, we told our cousin we wanted the family to stay intact. And it has.

In all, it's  been an interesting journey .

I get credit for my family. I'm not sure it's deserved.

I just watched them grow and encouraged  them to feel good about themselves.

 I'm not sure there's much more a parent can give a child  that's  really worth having.