Thanksgiving is here! I read an inspiration today that said “what are you taking for granted this week?”. It reminded me of a story I saw a few weeks ago about a mother that lost her son, when he was a young adult. She said that the last thing he told her was, “it’s all so simple Mom”. Meaning this whole life thing is all so simple. We overcomplicate with our ambitions, biases and taking things for granted. The holidays are a great reminder of the passing of time as I currently have a visual metric of how fast the time is going. Thanks to good ole Facebook, I’m thrown “memories” every day. Usually, they are of my boys, being tiny and precious. So what moments do I take for granted? Here they are, let me know if you can relate!
Carrying My Boys
This is becoming more difficult as they are so big now. There’s something about carrying them around in my arms that makes me indescribably happy. You childless, dog-owners can probably relate. I think us women are meant to be caregivers of some sort. We are natural mothers! The days are definitely numbered for carrying Henrick around. My older boy, Matteo, literally feels like he ate rocks. He’s SOO heavy. I can still carry him if he helps me but gone are the days where I can easily transport him if he falls asleep and I have to move him. When I struggle moving him, sometimes it reminds me of older people that need help moving.
If we are lucky to grow old, it’s ironic that we will end up needing to be carried later in life. Carrying my boys and not needing to be carried currently, are moments I take for granted sometimes.
The Innocence of Childhood
Right now they believe in Santa, goodness in the world, and that the good guys (or pups on Paw Patrol), always win. This out of all things, is the one that breaks my heart the most. I think about this almost every day when I see the news and feel lucky I don’t have to quite explain much now. I probably take this the least for granted but still, I do. If you have any tips on how to do this with older kids, please let me know.
I also recall getting a few things “broken” to me as I grew up. No Santa, concept of heaven, the doggie we got didn’t make it, etc. For now, I just to try to enjoy how simple things are for these guys. Their biggest concerns are getting to see their favorite cousins, getting to read their favorite books at bedtime, and getting to watch the phone for a few minutes when we are out to dinner (yes, I let them do that).
Time with my husband
Husbands and wives are easy to take for granted. They can be so annoying! Kidding babe. 🙂 So many times, they can be roomates, door mats and someone to blame. I’ve gotten to spend a lot of alone time with Nick in 2019. The more quality time we spent together, the more I realized how much we both keep evolving. Time together is really key in continuing to evolve together.
For many of us, it feels like your spouse is gonna be around as long as you are around. However, for many that’s not the case. One of my longtime friends, and person that got me into clean beauty, Lisa, is struggling with her husband having cancer again for the second time. Her love, grace and strength in lifting him up and living up to her vows knocks the wind out of me on a regular basis.
Another example, is a person I don’t know that I ran into on Instagram. her husband mysteriously disappeared at sea with his friend while fishing. That was 3 months ago, no trace was found. She doesn’t KNOW what happened to him. He’s just not here anymore. She posts almost daily about how Christ carries her and about her faith. Once again, mind blown about this level of faith and love. Stephanie misses Brian deeply. Spying on her Instagram you can see that they were deeply in love with each other and their children. So do I take time with Nick for granted? Absolutely. Am I trying not to? You bet!
Laughing with my sister
For a few years my sister and I did not live in the same city. I always joke with her that I would cry my eyes out at the airport while she cheerfully said goodbye. No offense taken, that’s just her coping style. LOL. Now that we work together, we spend a lot of “busy time” together, executing, doing stuff we don’t love and stuff we do. Sometimes, it’s easy to lose the “fun” aspect of having a sister because we usually have business to get through and we can’t always get to the fun stuff, especially with kids! This past weekend, she joined me at a really fun family outing at Great Wolf Lodge, and we just laughed. We definitely need more of that. We lost our older brother 4 years ago and I know that we both feel we could have laughed with him a little more.
Moving
People always assume that I LOVE, I do mean… LOOOVE working out! Many times, I go to my workout kicking and screaming like everyone else. I always feel like a better version of myself when I workout. Everything makes sense, I get smarter! LOL
A couple of weeks ago, our MaZi Dance Fitness dance troupe held a performance. I managed to perform but the experience was humbling. The second night of the show I was barely able to bend my knees, it was awful! I would tell my knees “bend” and they shook and slightly bent. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have control of bending my knees. I’m older and in great shape but I can’t take moving for granted. I was in luck that my favorite chiropractor, Dr. Pontarelli, was in the audience and was able to work on me. Then someone from the team had Icy Hot and I numbed and rubbed my way to the stage. LOL Here’s a clip on the performance.
Grandparent Spoiling
Last Spring, Nick’s grandmother, the only grandmother I ever ‘experienced” passed away. Betty was so precious to everyone that knew her, and the ultimate chic grandmother. Although I don’t have living grandparents anymore, my boys still have a full set of them! I think one thing that I take for granted a lot is their time with them. Since they are our parents, it feels like they should/could live forever. Seeing your parents love and care for your kids is something I wish for everyone. I think the world would be a different place if everyone had at least one set of loving grandparents. I didn’t and while I turned out ok, I think I would’ve been better off if I had known them all.
Wishing you the best Thanksgiving with your loved ones! Would love to hear from you and apologies for the dark nature of this post! For a more uplifthing what Thanksgiving means to me, read this! XO, Z