The park is filled with wonder today.
Green and golden leaves.
My children,
One in the sandbox,
One on the soccer field,
Both still in their church clothes.
A couple on a bench,
A couple on a stroll,
A couple on the swings,
A couple holding hands.
She whispers in his ear,
He kisses the top of her head.
Two girls on parallel skateboards,
Holding hands to stay in tandem.
Our kite is in the sky,
Dipping, darting, diving.
A dozen dads
Play with two dozen sons.
The breeze is warm,
The air is cool.
My chest tightens,
And I don't know if
My heart swells
Or aches.
So beautiful. Reminds me of a time, shortly after my husband left... I flew to Canada to do some TV interview. Got the gumption to take myself to dinner and was immediately surrounded by couples who looked so comfortable together and I wanted to say to them, "Do you have any clue how lucky you are to have someone who loves you, sitting across the table with you, just eating their pasta?" Then, "That's Amore" started playing overhead somewhere. Then I looked out the window at the park below and saw couple after couple walking hand in hand. I wiped away a tear, swallowed my entire glass of wine in one gulp, and took my dinner to go, to eat alone in my hotel room. The only "blessing" of those painful moments comes now. When I remember them, and am so grateful for the simple comfort of a loving partner. It will be so for you, too. Because you are not the sort of woman who will go too very long without being loved and cherished by a good man again. You are too dang adorable, bright, kind, gorgeous... Or as one of my little boys once said, "You are irrizippable."