This is the Life!

I buckled in Cody, wedged a cherry-Pepsi Slushee between his legs, and powered up the truck. Cody laced his fingers behind his head, heaved a big sigh, and said, "This is the life!"

A profound statement for such small pleasures. Time alone with Mom combined with a Slushee were apparently the recipe of happiness to my six-year-old.

I retraced the times when I experienced such moments, these wellings-up. A rush of love to the heart.

On our way home from a camping trip one time, Stephen suddenly pulled the truck onto the shoulder and with the engine idling, slid out, skipped to my side, and opened my door with great ceremony.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I need to show you something."

He pulled me to the front of the cab, wrapped his arms around my middle from behind, and there on the side of the freeway proceeded to do a show-and-tell of all the constellations in the cloudless midnight sky.

Wellings-up usually happened when we least expected it.

Cody came up to us one day and said, "I have a great idea! Let's send balloons to God!"

And so we inflated four balloons - one from each child - wrote "I [picture of heart] you, God!" on each one, then watched them drift away. Until our neighbor's tree snagged them.

I think God got the message anyways. I envisioned Him having a welling-up of His own.

En route to Open House at their school one evening, Ethan was giddy with anticipation for this particular outing. After parking, we were spilling out of the car when Ethan proclaimed, "I LOVE CODY! I LOVE MATTHEW! I LOVE MADISON! I LOVE DADDY!"

Then he looked up at me and said, "I even love YOU, too!"

Last week we hosted a Halloweenie roast, inviting ghouls and goblins to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over an open fire under the watchful eye of a full moon. While gazing into the hypnotic fire, one of the parents sighed and said, "Now THIS is the life!"

I glanced across the street to our darkened home, our fixer-upper that dared us to finish it. We'd been without a kitchen for eight years, the balcony on the upper story was in the midst of being converted into a third bedroom to accommodate our growing family, and the bottom story was a construction zone. The kids bathed in an antique German child's tub, which also doubled as a kitchen sink. We liked to joke that our grandkids would be completing our dream home for us at the rate it was going.

In spite of it all, our boys seemed blind to their home's shortcomings. On more than one occasion, they've arrowed love to our hearts by shouting,"I LOVE THIS HOUSE!"

Many people have questioned our sanity over the years, wondering why the progress on our house continued at a turtle's pace. One overriding factor -- raising kids -- usurped the majority of our money, time, and attention.

And one might say...well, we were guilty of being too wrapped up in producing welling-up moments like this. I squeezed Stephen's hand, watching our boys, dressed up as cowboys, spear marshmallows onto antique extendable forks.

Then I concurred quietly with the parent's observation, "Yep, this IS the life."

Think about it. Think about the things that give you a welling-up and make you want to declare out loud, "THIS IS THE LIFE!"

Then say it!

Jennifer Oliver
[email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Jennifer Oliver. All rights reserved.

*******
About the author: Jennifer Oliver resides in the heart of Texas and has three fulltime jobs as a webmaster for the government, wife to awesome househubby, Stephen, and mother to four beautiful kidwarmers.

_________________________________________________________

QUOTES FROM LESSER KNOWN PEOPLE

"There's a lot of wasps outside! So I sang a lullaby to them so that they can all go to sleep." - Ethan Oliver (6)

_________________________________________________________

FAMILY LOVE MOMENT

We had finished watching a movie at 11:30 p.m. when three-year-old Matthew asked that he go potty. When he returned to his bed, he asked Stephen, “Daddy play camp-out with me?” In other words, will Daddy sleep with me on the floor with pillows and blankets? Stephen said, no, maybe tomorrow night. Matthew looked so crestfallen that Stephen went ahead and pulled out the futon. The look on Matthew’s face — when he realized he would have Daddy all to himself — was well worth it.

- Jennifer Oliver
_________________________________________________________

FROM OUR FRIENDLY E-MAIL CARRIER:

In regards to "The Pretty One" --

I am a huge fan of Roger Dean Kiser! So imagine my surprise when I saw this heartwarming story from him! Thanks, Roger, for such a sweet story.
Eloise Fairmont

_________________________________________________________

LOVE,
JENNIFER I. OLIVER AND FAMILY
[email protected]
When you are born, you cry and everyone is happy. So live your life
in such a way that when you die, everyone cries and you are happy.

- Unknown
_________________________________________________________

This E-mail may be forwarded in its entirety, but first ask the writer for permission before forwarding. Thank you for doing the decent thing! Ü
________________________________________________________

SUBMIT STORY, QUOTE, OR FAMILY LOVE MOMENT:
http://www.geocities.com/jenniferioliver2001/submission.htm

FEEDBACK: [email protected]
_________________________________________________________