TOP NOTCH!

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The house is alive again. My kids are back after a weekend with their dad. It's funny, I miss them when they're gone...they say they miss me...and we are only separated four days a month.

We are spiritually connected by the bonds of faith in God and in one another. We know we will always be there for each other-no matter how difficult the challenge or obstinate the force. We have faced the worst of what life has brought our way and we have emerged stronger and bolder and a bit more sassy.

In the silence of the hours when they are away, I realize more fully how important they are to me...how important our family is to our individual survival and to the legacy that we will leave to this life. You see, I've had it all...the fame, the fortune, the misfortune, the failures, the false friendships and the frivolous feelings. But the one constant, the consistent consolation that endears itself to me-is my family...fundamentally fueled by faith and Love and the wonderful words that mean so much.

Tonight, at our traditional Monday evening meal, my 15 year old Ben-who had just swallowed the last bite of seconds announced, "This was a top notch meal mom!" He caught me off guard...I thought for a moment-"what did you say?" As if choreographed, the others chimed in simultaneously, "Top notch, why are you going to write about it in your blog?!"
Do you think they know me by now?!

Of course I am. I'm always looking for a good line. Eleven year old Jacob smiled, "Are you going to start the story-we were sitting around the table eating when Benjamin said, "top notch meal mom"...Everyone's a writer and a jokester and a know it all in my house. But that's what I like...knowing that they're paying attention to me and to one another...knowing they can kick back an idea right into my lap because they're actually absorbing more than just the food.


I just like the camaraderie and the laughter and even the nonsense that always erupts into running through the house in a mad screaming dash-"Mom tell him to stop it!" The noise is familiar-23 years familiar-while the silence is the future, when they will no longer be around my feet, falling all over themselves and each other, clamoring for attention and as always- the last word.


They're a top notch group--like my dinner...Rigatoni, pork roast, butter beans, spinach salad, sweet rolls and layered banana pudding for dessert. I have to agree with them-that meal is top notch!

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