a little sentiment and a lot of empathy

I can't write anything today without mentioning the weather; it was absolutely beautiful here today. Somewhere in the 80s, a light breeze, deep blue sky - unbeatable. From the morning, when there's just enough cool to bring anticipation for the heat, to the evening when the cool gradually comes back along with the darkness. So how did we enjoy this weather?

We had a garage sale. Ok, usually that's a total pain, but today's was actually pretty good. Along with the usual "little stuff", we had 2 big items that we really, really wanted to sell. One was our old kitchen table which no longer had a place in our home after the kitchen remodel in April. It had been taking up space in our garage, along with its chairs since then and I REALLY wanted that space back. The second was our old entertainment center which had been in the garage for 4 (four!) years. Unlike the table which had only been with us in this house, the entertainment center goes back almost 16 years. Our brother-in-law made it for us as a wedding present (he also made our kitchen cabinets for the remodel) and it was easily our most prized possession at the time. Often when I would see it sitting in the garage, it would take me back to that small apartment and those early times when things were so much easier. It moved with us to our first house and then again to our current house. After so many years, Staci asked me if I was sad to see it go today. I was - for about 5 seconds :) - but I was sure glad to get the space back in the garage too!

After the garage sale, the kids and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool soaking up the sun. The pool has been such a fantastic addition, not only does it bring great enjoyment and refreshment, but it brings us ALL together in a way few other things do. Grant fits right in and enjoys doing the same things as the other kids - in the pool. Owen can swim for hours and the water helps bridge the size/age difference between him and his older sister. It's all good.

As for the empathy, last week I got really frustrated with something. I don't even remember what it is now, although it was probably something Owen wasn't doing (or was doing). But, I do remember the effects it had on the boys. Grant looked at me and reached his hands up at me to wipe my eyes, although I wasn't crying he knew I was upset. He's done this a couple times in the past few weeks, and it's so wonderful to see him empathize. He rubbed his fingers on my eyes roughly and with a lot of pressure as if to remove the pain. As I went upstairs, Owen tagged along and took me to his room. "Daddy, let's play. I don't want you to be frustrated." We proceeded to play a few games and do some coloring until he was sure I was ok. Unlike Grant, he was able to use words and interaction to show his empathy. Grant, like Owen, used his skills to the best of his ability, each going a bit above and beyond what they had done in the past and each showing that they loved me in their own special way.