Who knew Mr. Magorium was so profound?

After you've been married for a while, you find your partner has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. If your'e lucky, you'll find your husband/wife's strengths compliment your weaknesses. The good news is you make a great team, shoring up each other as you go along. The longer you're married the more you find those areas of your spouses strengths are areas you've long since stopped trying to improve upon in your self. It's not something I'm proud of but sadly, it's true. Think of it, when was the last time you endeavored to mow the lawn in a diamond pattern or exchanged stain removal tips with a friend in an attempt to expand your skill set. The truth is we all bring expertise to the table and since there is precious little time, we rely on our partners to provide their expertise when needed.

The problem arises when your team loses a member. In the last year I've been expanding my repertoire to include taking the garbage out and killing bugs. I've learned to appreciate Eric more than before but even more importantly, I've reaffirmed what my mother always told me, "I come from a long line of strong women". The difficult part of this whole "growing" thing is stepping out of your comfort zone. Come on, one of the benefits of being married is letting your partner, who's good at "that" stuff (what ever it may be), do it for you! I guess God has other plans.

This afternoon I had another one of those "growing" opportunities. You see, I'm not a real lover of the ocean. Sure it's pretty to look at but I'm not wild about all the stuff swimming around my legs. And the salt, well do I need to say more? Eric has always been the one to play with the kids on the beach. My job was getting everything packed up and ready, his was humping it down to the beach and entertaining. Once we're there, I am fully willing to sit at the shores edge and read a book. Never once, did I say, "boy I sure wish I could be the one to take the kids out in the surf, chasing, jumping, and carrying." No, I was just content to sit and read, watching them play, complimenting myself on packing just what was needed and nothing more (my particular skill set).

This afternoon, I sat watching Chloe watching all the kids out in the surf with an adult. I'd like to say it was my mother's intuition but, I'm pretty sure a rock couldn't have missed the longing on her face. When I asked her if she wanted to go out, she said no but I knew better. Accepting the challenge, I chased her around the beach, picked her up kicking and screaming, screwed up my courage and headed out into the waves. Every 30 seconds she asked/begged, to return to the shore and after about 5 minutes I at least felt like she had enough of a taste to decide for herself if she truly liked it or not. At her next request, I acquiesced only to her her say, "well maybe one more wave". As soon as we returned to shore, Evan wanted a turn. As I made my way back to the waves I could hear Chloe say, "Grandpa, will you take me out to the ocean?" A mother always knows best.

I rented Mr. Magorium's magic emporium a few weeks ago. I'm always looking for movies for the kids to watch with Eric and I'm happy to say this was an unintended gold mine. I'd recommend it for all of you struggling with Eric's impending death. The story is about a magic toy store and it's owner Mr. Magorium. You see he's decided the day, tomorrow, has come for him to die and leave the store to his able assistant. The toy store, being magical and all, is not particularly pleased with Mr. Magorium's plan and protests in many ways. At one point, after closing time, Mr. Magorium has a heart to heart talk with the store. He scolds it for being so precocious and says something that has stuck with me ever since. He says, "We will face tomorrow, what ever it may bring, with bravery, determination and joy". I've tried to infuse that into our lives. I believe today, we were successful. The determination was mine, the bravery, Chloe's and the joy, well, that was shared by us all!

I don't have a picture for you from today, so I thought I'd share another special one from yesterday.

Have a blessed day!
Amy