monday

something amazing happened this evening.
and it wasn't what any one said or anything that happened.
it was just in itself...wonderful.




theres something about eating dinner around the kitchen table that makes the world seem a little bit better. a little bit easier. with glasses full of ice tea and plates full of bbq chicken and corn time seemed to stand still. laughter lingers in the air like oxygen and laugh lines are added into eye creases by the minute. but tonight it wasn't the table time that had my heart and tummy feeling full. it was the quite moments after that made my heart feel too full to handle. momma left shortly after dinner for bible study with plans set afterwards to get frozen yogurt and catch the newest girlie film with me. i always love when shes on vacation--she has no bed time. dad decided to head back out to the backyard to finish mowing the lawn and i was left with a messy kitchen to clean. but instead of being filled with normal teenage angst i was filled with happiness. with the wind up radio dad always has set to the country station sweetly humming from the back porch singing its gentle melody into the open windows of the house and the curtains coasting up and down from the breeze blowing in the kitchen i started on the dishes. i rinsed off the white china plates i have been eating off of since i was five years old. the plates we got when we moved into this very house over sixteen years ago. the little green house on maleville ave with the pick up truck in front and the american flag that never ceases to be hung all year long. the thousand square foot home that has housed our little family of four all these years. the home to pencil drawn measurements on the kitchen walls and hidden holes in bedrooms from rebellious play. as i stood barefoot in the middle of the kitchen with soap suds covering my arms i couldn't help but smile. this house hasn't just been a place to sleep...its been a place to live. its one of the places ive lived the most and grown the most.from fights with parents to staying up all night with brother i have become the young woman i am today because of this house. because of whats inside. because of the people i love who fill the bedrooms every night and the living room every day.




i made my way to the backyard to enjoy the last few rays of heat before night time set in and to watch dad tend to the backyard that has held many nights playing with the dogs, bbqs on sunday, and childhood memories of slip-n-slides. as the doggies came running up to me i was washed with emotion. with happiness. with life. because these are the moments in life that matter. these are the days i will remember when my family is gone. the ones i look forward to with my own family i will have someday. the lazy mondays with mom and dad just doing the things that are required in life. like dishes and yard work, nothing special. nothing extraordinary. and nothing life changing. just living life with the ones you love in the little green house on
maleville ave.