love

let me count the ways….

 Celebrating 29 years of togethering
  and oh how grateful I am
 for my mister

~  his beautiful hands and kind, firm touch,
 ~ his quiet way
 ~ how when he laughs,  really laughs,  it's music,
 like my grandpa's,
~ his loving fierceness for protecting our children
 ~  the compassion that rises up and takes him over
 when he senses genuine need.

~ that he keeps learning,  keeps growing,  keeps opening to change
 even when it challenges and chills him,
~ that he notices nature with childlike eyes.....our shared love for
 wildlife and aliveness was how we fell in love,
~  that he still surprises me,
~  the way he cares for my car
~ that he takes life's  hits and keeps moving forward

  ~  how he wouldn't quit on "us" and wouldn't let me quit, either
  ....the peacefulness that's come.

~  the way his eyes smile to me in a crowd,
~  the feel of his hand on the small of my back,
 ~ the iron sharpening iron way he challenges me with his
 oh-so-different-from-me-ness,
 ~  the happy squeeze in my belly when we ride the same wave,
 ~ the way he's learned to be free about me being me.

 ~  how we've learned to fight hard and often and well,
 ~  the way his straight lines sometimes bend to blend with my wavy ones.
~  The way he lives his own truth and keeps it real,
 ~  his calm courage when I lose it and come undone
~  his humility when I'm the braver one.

~ that his heart is tender,
~ his prayers are real,
~ his love is faithful,
~ his art is forgiveness,
~ and his story is strong.

~ the way he loves his mama, feels his music, and lives out his love
for me real and raw and true,
~ that i love this adventure we share more each day,
~ and that I believe
that together we can find a way
to thrive through whatever comes down this unpaved path
we travel together.

Wait! That’s 29~ and there’s so much more to love!
I want years more still
for the telling.

stuffing stockings for you….

Stockings are my favorite.
I closed my eyes today and stuffed one for each of you,
my heart layering wishes and prayers
into bright quilted spiritsocks to send on Christmas breezes.

Down in the bottom, like a big shiny apple,
I plunked a prayer that you’d hop quick and light through tangles
like a surefooted wren in underbrush,
never bogged down or boxed in.

Then I melted down the crayons
that would color you a victim,
scooped balls from the molten pools,
then sculpted and dried into powerful pellets
for you to pitch at lies and sink them
like the accuser in a dunking booth.

I dropped in big belly laughs, lush meadows, quiet pools,
and plenty of light and space,
a string of exhuberant stars burning hopeful through the night
that you’re never alone,
and a Mary Oliver poem about another sunny morning
and the lucky person who is in it
(oh let that happy lark be you)

I tucked in Dickenson’s wish that your rambles be sweet,
your reveries spacious,
and some colorful feathers that whisper “you’re worthy of wings”

I draped a bouquet of flowers from the top
to gently croon that it’s safe to bloom
and a loveable Lionel….a sort of communication angel like his character in The King’s Speech
to coach out every bit of your voice that may still huddle stuck and shut down.

Into the nooks and crannies I tucked candles that flicker encouragement,
pretty little packages of savory sustenance
and teas for chasing chill and fatigue.
Then I scooped in a whole caboodle of newborn dreams;
they trickled down like skittles into every crevice,
and some truffles of precious time wrapped in glittering foil
in strong flavors of go slow and savor
(I went heavy on these so that THIS year you’re gaining time)

And I smiled at all the love packed snug like a stowaway inside;
I hope you feel it like a song,
a warm hand on your back when you need another along,
a blanket pulled up on a cold night,
a glad squeeze for how you share and shine.

Go ahead and open it early……there will always be more,
always be enough,
always:)