Well, it's been several days now since I went to visit Cheryl. I've been busy living life since then, so I haven't had the time to write about the adventure. I loaded the kids in the van Wednesday (can you believe we were on the road by 9:15?! Amazing!) and we got on our way down to Provo. I consider a trip successful when we don't have to turn on the movie -- and we were successful! Thanks to the wonders of GPS, we made it without any wrong turns and only about 4 potty stops. I was so excited when we pulled into her driveway!
The kids took a bit to warm up to each other, but once they did, things went great. They played outside, in the basement, and all around us. Brigham was a pill, though! He took every toy Cheryl's #4 would get into his hands -- it was always accompanied by a "mine." I really was embarassed, especially because Brigham is usually so mild mannered. It only took him about 3 hours to stop bullying little #4.
We enjoyed 6 hours of madness. We ate lunch and dinner together (thank you for being so accommodating, Cheryl!) and I left her house in utter chaos. Really. We didn't help with dishes or toy clean-up or anything! I'm really grateful for good friends who understand the need to leave at that moment -- the one that means "leave now or it will be another hour!".
We got home in time for bed and I was exhausted! I can only wonder how Cheryl felt. Since that day, I've had this idea for a poem swirling around in my brain. I will disclaim here that I possess not the gift of poetry. In fact, the last poem I wrote was for Mrs. Petersen's English class in the eleventh grade. It was a limerick and it went like this:
There once was a girl named Sue Ellen
Her breath, they said, was bad smellin'
She said, "It smells sweet cause I eats sugar beets"
But we found it was old rotten melon.
Pretty good, huh? I know...so, 12 years later, here's poem number two, although not a limerick!
Unfinished Conversations
I went to visit a friend today.
Our kids, we hoped, would stay quiet and play
So we could talk and laugh and chat...
But the children would have none of that.
Each time we talked of something new,
A child would say, "Can you fix my shoe?"
Or "I need to potty" or "He took my toy."
Somehow we greeted it with joy.
For although many words were left unspoken,
The real conversation was never broken.
It went like this, "I love you friend -- I know this life
For I am also a mother and wife."
Cheryl, thank you for such a fun day.
5 comments:
What a great poem! I'm glad you had such a fun day with Cheryl, I hope that one day we can get together and have a great day like that!
What a sweet poem and so true! Glad you could have fun with a great friend. I treasure those days.
Awww, Julie! I had the best time when you came. I seriously didn't care about the mess, or the interruptions, etc. It was just nice to see you! And Brigham wasn't too bad. He learned. :)
I love your poem! Like Jamie said, it's so true...isn't it great that we know it's okay to leave all our conversations unfinished? Well, until we can together without the children? Ha! :)
I love both poems! It sounds like a great day with Cheryl. She is amazing.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and posting your sweet comment. Your girls are beautiful, I love the picture on your header. Isn't Pioneer Woman great?
I love the poems! The first is hysterical and the second is so true.
A friend and I joke all the time about starting a whole bunch of conversations and never remembering if the thoughts were finished. Sometimes I forget the point of a story between kissing owies and enforcing time outs.
I'm glad you two had fun!
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