Because it’s been too many days without words for me, today I am in a simpler place when it comes to contemplating my two amazing teenagers. As I was driving home with one of my girls from the bookstore, the sky was illuminated with pockets of orange-tinged and pinkish hues of sunlight against some clouds but not others. As we turned the corner, I pointed them out to my 15 year old whose head was looking down at the new graphic novel I just bought her. Don’t miss the clouds, I told her, and upon taking in their beauty, agreed they were quite spectacular. We also both agreed the largest pinkish hued one looked like the head of a dragon with two short tendrils of smoke breathing from his snout.
That moment, those clouds, provided me a moment of contemplation as we continued our drive along the backroads that lead to our neighborhood. It didn’t escape me that only a few clouds were lit with the colors of the sunset’s beauty or that my eyes were easily drawn to that beauty.
It reminded me of the way my heart is drawn to these two remarkable young women because they are like those clouds. They draw my attention because of who they are. Because of their presence, their essence, their hearts. These are the things that illuminate my very heart. They also tend to lighten my heart when it seems heavy or feels weary.
Those clouds, that dragon shape, easily reminded me of how grateful I am for these two kind-hearted, tender-hearted young women who testify to the wonder of the world that surrounds me. I love that they make me feel seen and heard. I love that they are easy to love. Like the clouds in tonight’s sky, they take shape and then shift, but their presence, their essence, is always here in my life and because of that I count myself truly blessed.
These two remarkable young women remind me to seek out the beauty and the wonder and the joy. Even more, they are those things in my life almost every day. Truly I marvel that I have been gifted this opportunity to walk alongside them and to be home with them and to learn with them. These are the true and simple blessings for which I am beyond grateful today. And I am grateful also for the reminder the sky and the light-infused clouds provided me tonight. Because in the same way that I called the clouds to my 15 year old’s attention, the clouds called my girls and the gift they are to mine. And that’s something I definitely don’t ever want to miss.