Treasures

Slowly and methodically we are putting our home back together. We are hopeful that we are three weeks away from having our remodel 95% complete. Every single item in our home has been shifted from room to room to garage to porch to room at least once if not many times.

Youngest Son is playing Classic Rock off Pandora as he goes through his stuff. Oldies such as American Pie, Here Comes the Sun, Twist and Shout, Lean On Me, Let It Be and Don't Go Breaking My Heart drift through the house and lighten the mood. I ask Youngest Son if I can help him and he casually points to a pile of stuff he does not want anymore. I spot a green plastic container and I slowly lift the lid. My heart skips a tiny beat. It is a box of little boy treasures.

I look in the box and I am paralized. What do I do with this 12 year collection? I contemplate throwing it away. I cannot. That will have to happen on another day or another year or another decade but not today.

I hear Youngest Son singing the songs of his parents' youth while disposing of the relics of his early childhood. There is something profound, comforting and melancholic about this moment.

A box of rocks, arrowheads, shells, legos, fossils and sticks.

A new desk for Youngest Son as his sifts through books, boxes and belongings.

Two Peas in a Pod. Not.

Two kids. Two boys. Two years apart.

Two sets of shoes.

Which belongs to which son?

Red and So Excited to Find.

Not Red and "That is fine."

Jews & Baseball & Cancer

This early Sunday morning we are off to Boca Raton, Florida. We includes Commuter Husband, Youngest Son and me, Mommy with Commuter Husband. Oldest Son is on his way as well but he is traveling with the Dallas Maccabi Team which includes Jewish athletes ages 13 to 16. Oldest Son is part of the 16U baseball team.

Shepherding our teenage son through his options for maintaining Jewish engagement is tricky. Trying out for this "Jewish Junior Olympics" team, practicing for the last few months and now headed to the Maccabi Games has been a wonderful experience for Oldest Son. We are thankful for finding this particular path.

Oldest Son has two game jerseys and the camouflage baseball one is just plain cool. The pink ribbon stands out in the "heart of Texas."

Oldest Son's coach (who is fantastic) asked each player to include the pink breast cancer ribbon on their jerseys. The boys are playing in honor of three players' mothers who have survived breast cancer. I happily ironed the symbol of hope on the two left sleeves.

I am thrilled that Oldest Son will play baseball, the game he loves, while representing his Jewishness AND honoring his mother who had breast cancer. Staying focused on our values and passions is so important; finding ways to act on them is the definition of a meaningful life. 

How Is This Possible???

The Mouse has super powers.

We set out FOUR sticky traps with brownie. I heard noise at about 4:30am.

At 6am, I checked the traps. TWO of the traps are GONE!

What the heck??? Disappeared.