11.15.2007

Hi and Lo

Before I had children, I used to go to movies. Sometimes I would even go see a movie by myself, after work or school, without anyone knowing where I was. It was my secret, slightly guilty pleasure. Now that I have children, I rarely go to the movies and I seldom see a movie in it's entirety, even in the comfort of my own home. Instead, when I find myself without my children for a length of time, I have a million things to do, including just sitting silently and staring out the window. I happened to be staring out the window today when I saw this:

I don't know how, why or when the little mermaid was lynched, but there she was, hanging helplessly, and I know who did this to her. I'll give you one guess.

Back to the movies, I remember one afternoon in particular when I left class and went to see The Story of Us. I have seen it several times since and I still love it. One of my favorite scenes is when the family is gathered around the table for dinner, an occasion we're led to believe happens on a regular basis, and each member of the family shares his high and low for the day - the best and the worst, the up and the down, the yin and the yang. I remember thinking what a great family tradition this daily exchange would be when I had a family of my own, but so far, no luck. Instead I've decided to share my high and my low here, with you. This might be a one time feature, or a weekly installment, or perhaps a random occurrence, but regardless, here's my very first hi and lo.

Since I'm the kind of person who likes to hear the good news first, here is the highlight of my week. We were eating lunch Monday, which was of course Veteran's Day, and discussing the veterans we knew and what it meant to be a veteran, when Aidan said, "I'm a veteran now. I don't eat meat anymore, only bacon." What a sweetheart he is, even if he does tie up helpless toys and leave them for dead.

The low occurred the following day when I was visiting a friend, and the man who stopped by to fix her stove told us that he was taking the next week and a half off to stay home and play Mr. Mom. His wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is having surgery today. My heart goes out to her and her family, and I wish her a speedy and successful recovery. All of my petty concerns and stresses melted away as I realized how fortunate we are to be in good health.

I believe we need the highs and lows in our lives, as much as we need equilibrium and disequilibrium. It is nature's system of checks and balances; it keeps us real. If you are inclined to share, I'd love to hear your high and low. Your comments always keep me real and I love it when they give me food for thought. I've enjoyed all your good advice this week, and if you haven't shared your two cents and your favorite cookie yet, you have until Sunday. Wishing you more highs than lows this weekend.

8 comments:

  1. When I was growing up we always shared our "favorite part" of the day after we had our evening family prayer. It was a great daily tradition. My Favorite part of the week is, I got a promotion. A big one. And my least favorite was my 9 month pregnant sister in law had a seizure at the grocery store and ended up in the hospital. But thank goodness she and the baby are fine. Hopefully the baby will be my favorite for next week.
    Michelle

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  2. hmmm. It's been a C.R.A.Z.Y. week. But all sort of midrange crazy. And I hardly remember what happened on Monday or Tuesday.

    high: finishing a monthlong project and seeing it come together as a unit.

    low: complaining and making a big deal about a really minor inconvenience and realizing that I was being a petty, whiney, selfish sop.

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  3. Poor mermaid!
    I have two highs and no lows this week. I prefer not to have any "lows" thank you very much!
    Was taken to lunch at Merchant and Main by a contractor friend, and have Mom's shower half tiled. Maybe by the end of the week I'll have more highs!
    Keep an eye on Aidan!
    Love
    Dad

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  4. Can't say I had any lows this week. It was pretty smooth sailing at work.
    My high (so far), I finished a sock using the Magic Loop concept for the first time! I am so grateful there are people thinking up wonderful ideas just to make my life easier :)

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  5. we also had that tradition when my kids were younger..we had to stop when the language and content could become too "dicey" for the younger siblings...big sigh inserted here...my high this week is happening tommorow when i am off to my student's birthday party..i was the only girl invited...my low...my uncle is dying of cancer...

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  6. High for the week: my dad survived his cancer surgery and came home in one piece -- at least most of him was still in one piece... some of him has gone to Stanford.

    Low for the week: disappointment in some of the doctors and nurses who cared for him, and not being able to say with any confidence that I would have done a better job under the circumstances.
    -- Mark

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  7. It is always amazing to me when things are put inperspective. I'm grumpy about stupid things and then I read/hear/see someone else's plight and how they are handling it and I think....whoa....pull it together and smile.

    thanks.

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  8. "The pressure... the pressure of a name!" (I can't think of anything.) I can barely remember this last week.

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