Icecream and Other Tiny Delights

Since she has been home, Rene has stuck to the living room of her childhood home. She feels the warmth of the living-room, surrounded by family and able to hear the small details of each activity going on around her. This is what she most desired when she learned that she was terminal. She wanted to be home, to be surrounded by her family, and to be amidst the daily hustle and bustle.

I have been spending a bit of time reflecting on what this means to Rene, and also what it means to me. To delight in the moments of the day is such a lovely concept, and sadly almost foreign to me. My life is noisy, loud even, and moves at the speed of sound! Rene sees the value in the daily activity, the loveliness of an update on a friend's life, watching Cooper and Great Grandpa go down the slide (Yes! Cooper got Albert to go on the slide twice!), an update from Honey about her Wednesday coffee group. Since I met Rene about 20 years ago, she has been this way. Regardless of what was happening in her life, she has always preferred sitting with family. Be it at her house, her in-law's house, her parent's house, she delights in the day-to-day. She delights in the moment, in the small but significant details that make up life.

I have learned a great deal from Rene about priorities. She teaches me to dream big, but appreciate the small details. She teaches me to be content. She teaches me that family is important, relationships are important, living is important. She teaches me that life is literally the small details, rolled up into a big memory. Life is not about the giant milestones, it is more about how we live in between those milestones. How we treat each other, how we appreciate the moments, how we respond to the highs and lows, and how we love.

Today my Dad reported that Rene had three servings of ice cream, and that she "sparkled" through the day. She is tired, and she is grieving, but she delighted in the small things today. She talked to family, she enjoyed the warmth of her childhood home, and she ate her ice cream. Today Rene continued to teach me as she always has, that the smallest of details are sometimes the most delightful. I am in awe of her as always.

xoxo

Kristen