Whose your Coach

Sometime in March, Gary and I received a letter from the school that Jack and Sarah attend. Grandparent’s Day was scheduled in April and we were invited to come . We had been to Dallas several times and had several more trips scheduled and felt like we just couldn’t attend. Normally, we would have crawled on our knees if we had to, but this time it just wasn’t possible. On Monday, Gary received a call from Curt that Jack was hysterical that none of his grandparents were coming. Was there any way that Gary could jump on a plane and come for the day? Gary had a hearing and I had a shoot, so we were out. The other grandparents were equally tied up and it was Aunt Kristen, (who lives in Dallas) to the rescue. There was only one other little boy that didn’t have any grandparents attending and they paired him with Jack and Kristen. I am thinking that Aunt Kristen was the only pregnant grandparent rep there, but that is another story and another blog on families being families. One of the activities was doing a family tree. If you remember, Jack calls Gary, Coach. The other boy didn’t have anyone to help, so Jack ask him “Who’s your Coach?” Of course, he must have had a coach somewhere in his tree and before the activity was over, the guest little boy had Coach written in his family tree. I keep laughing about someday when he finds his pre-K family tree, there will be listed Coach in one branch. Can you imagine the confusion? I also keep thinking about how easy it is to ask “Who’s your Coach?” and share with them someone you treasure.

Joys Ahead

Kristen and Sam came to Houston last weekend for two reasons. Sam was riding in the MS150 and Kristen was being given a baby shower. On Friday, we had maternity pictures scheduled, as this would be the last trip to Houston before the baby, Queso, is born. Queso is the name that my granddaughter, Sarah, gave to Kristen and Sam’s unborn baby. Sarah’s mom, Margo, is also pregnant and Sarah gave that baby the name of Cupcake. Wouldn’t you know that we would have food items to describe our family, even by a three year old! Oh, well. Back to the shoot…..we started about 11:30 and around 12:30 Sam left to meet some of his friends. About another hour to 1 ½ hours of shooting should allow us to capture everything that we needed. I am usually the one saying “Let’s just do a few more….and a few more, well, and just a few more.” But this would be my young, energetic full of mommy hormones daughter. By 4:30 we had to stop because we had a manicure/pedicure appointment that we had already moved once. Let me say, or as Jimmy Buffett says, “The party lasted way too long, and I had too much fun.” I was out in the pedicure chair…..sound asleep. Kristen did treat me to a mani/pedi for all the “hard” work.

Well, the first day of the MS150 was cancelled and we got to have Sam around a little longer. But here’s the summation of this entry…..At the shower, they had a picture frame with a big mat for everyone to write something to the baby. My friend, Liz Ellis, wrote something that captured my attention and my heart. All she said was “Joys ahead. Liz Ellis.” I have been captivated by that simple expression now all week. If we had a road map of our days, shouldn’t every sign that we see say

“Joys Ahead.” So what if there are a few curves ahead, we know that the Joys Ahead sign is always there. So my new closing phrase is born as well as the new grandbaby in June. Keep your eyes on Liz’s sign and let’s celebrate all the reasons that we have to be thankful.

Joys Ahead,

Cindy