Friday Gratitude

On this beautiful day after a storm, I'm grateful for...

...a 1-hour school delay. While it's unfortunate that it was due to flooding and power outages in other parts of our county, we needed the extra time this morning.

...the man at the Target Starbucks who, while sipping his coffee noticed the mommy with the super-full cart and the arm full of wiggly 2-year old walking across the parking lot. The mommy who unknowingly dropped a jumbo pack of paper towel rolls off the bottom of her cart. He put down his drink, ran out to the parking lot, retrieved the dropped parcel, followed me out to my car, and even helped load my bags in the back. Good people are not hard to find.

...the drive-thru at Panera, without which I'm definitely sure we would have been late to pick up Max from preschool.

...the fact that I was recently reacquainted with a college ex at a mutual friend's kid's birthday party, making today's run-in at the entrance to the grocery store much less awkward.

But mostly, the fact that in less than 24-hours, the majority of my family (we'll miss you Matt and Megan!) will be gathering here at my house for a few days. The 18 of us will be getting together to celebrate my brother's college graduation....and also, now....the life of our Mom Mom, my mom's mom, who passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 87.

I have a lot to say about this beautiful, classy Lady. Words that need more time to process and craft to do her legacy the justice it deserves. And so, for now, I'm grateful. Grateful that I spent the morning running errands to prepare for a house full of family, love, and celebration.

And I'm grateful for the 34 years that I knew my Mom Mom, the fact that my kids knew her, too, and the memories I'll keep, and share, of her forever.

Lesson Learned:

I'm grateful for the sun that follows the rain...