Marching on with a Roar

In like a lion, out like a lamb. April showers bring May flowers. In my brief and humble experience, New England is the place these charming observances of spring weather started. There are four seasons of weather in the Northeast: Snow, Rain, Humidity, and gorgeous. For us, March began with a roar. It was cold and rainy making for exhausting combinations of snow/rain/ice mixes that settled on the ground layered like sandstone rock formations. And even though I wasn’t there for the end of the month, it sounds like another round of the Winter/Spring mix roared through again. Meek little lambs were scarce, and our lives have been no different over the last 30 days.

I can’t categorize the move as a disaster because we are all together and all the really important things I truly care about made it (although the cat almost got left behind somewhere in Western Pennsylvania.) All the things I NEEDED and my personal treasures made it to Colorado safely. In the end, that is all that ever really matters. We did leave hundreds of dollars worth of things behind and thanks to the wicked weather we couldn’t have a garage sale. And while the frugal Jennifer voices inside me are irked at the losses, in my heart I know they are just things. It was just stuff, and likely stuff that was cluttering up my life anyway.

Yes, this move should have been handled much differently.  In my head, everything was going to be great and smooth sailing. And the first half of packing and loading was quite organized and managed well. Then came the first tooth. Naturally, three days before the girls and I flew out the first pearly white terror gnashed its way through Bit’s gums and took a bite out of any hope I had of having hands free to work steadily at the move. Seventeen days later, there are now four of the buggers with a fifth blistering on the verge of release. Thanks to this and the chaos of being surrounded by newness everywhere, Bit now HATES any of her jumpers, exersaucers, and play mats. Flexibility does not seem to be a natural trait for her, at least not in the month of March.

When the girls and I got off the plane, we walked nearly immediately into a hospital room. Muffin still has all four of his grandparents alive and one of his grandmothers took a nasty spill. With her fall and another two beginning to show signs of dementia, it seems that mortality will suddenly be a theme we can no longer avoid.

So between the roar of teething babies, the mauled mess of boxes begging to be unloaded, and time marching on without concern for our hectic lives, I have been reminded of the one thing that brings peace when life becomes a circus: gratitude. I am thankful that we all made it to be together again. I am thankful for this day and the chance I have to make it special for my girls. I am thankful they can get to know their extended family better. I am grateful for a roof over my head and the chance to fret about stuff because that means I am fortunate to have it. And I am certainly grateful that unpacking is the last step!