Whit spent a week studying the reproductive system in school. On the last day of the unit, they watched a video of a birth. “How was it?” I asked him.
He thought for a minute and then answered, “Gunky.”
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One Friday night in late January, after family dinner, Grace, Whit and I spent a solid hour looking at old photographs and reading old blog posts. It started with my remembering Whit’s passion for his exercise pants. I felt grateful for the record I have of them as small children. Then, the evening devolved into poking Whit’s stuffed narwhal’s horn into each other’s ears. As we do.
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Grace has been wearing her hair in two braids for hockey, which reminds me of both my own childhood hairdo and, far more poignantly, of the two pigtails she used to wear as a toddler. Oh, life. Taking my breath away on a daily basis since 2002.
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Many years ago we had a spirited car conversation about what we would get if we ever got a tattoo. Everyone had an answer and mine was a small tear under one eye. Last week, Whit came home from school with a small tear under one eye, rendered in sharpie. Because it was sharpie, it took a while to come off!
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As usual, in this dark season (meteorologically and otherwise), life is full of beauty. Small, glimmering moments. I just try to keep seeing them.
New reader here, but I had to comment because my son has such a funny obsession with narwhals! It has become a running joke with us and friends. I even received a narwhal coffee mug for Christmas! 🙂