For my birthday, we took a trip down to Cincinnati. Loved it. That city has become a centering place in my life, I think. Even though we were only there for three years, they were important years, grounding years for our family, and then, it was our trip there last year that led us to where we are now. It's a place where I can sort of evaluate where I am and what I'm doing with my life. We were only there overnight plus the bulk of the days on either side, but it wound up being both fun and poignant.
We went out for lunch at Maggiano's, Aaron's and my favorite date night restaurant while we lived here. We took our kids--linen napkins and all--and they minded their manners reasonably well. It's hard to believe we're at a stage where that can happen! Then we picked up a half-gallon of black raspberry chip ice cream and gorged ourselves while watching a Harry Potter movie at our hotel. Good times.
On Sunday, we attended church at our old ward, the Montgomery Ward (lol), and it happened to be the day of the ward primary program. What a cascade of memories washed over me! When we first moved into that ward, I was called as the primary pianist. I served in that calling for about two years, then was called as the primary music leader. Well, in the time between that first calling and now, the little sunbeams who used to poke each other on the front row grew into the graduating class. Wow. I totally got choked up, watching them leading the younger children in the songs, and speaking about what the gospel of Jesus Christ has meant in their lives. It was startling to see, quite clearly, how each of the helping hands in that ward have led and molded them into really spectacular young men and women. Some of them have always had strong families behind them, but not all of them. In the ones who haven't, it made me tear up a bit to see and know how important all those others have been--to think that I had been one (a small one, but still) of those. There were other children as well: the fire-cracker rabble-rouser who has grown into a really nice-looking, well-behaved (but still with a glint in his eye) ten-year-old, the cute girl Theo was just getting fond of before we moved, a couple of my little Joy School guys, the now-four-year-old mini-baby-boom that happened around the time Sera was born. They were all cute as pumpkins! I also got to chat for a little bit with Nan, the woman who served and pirmary music leader while I was pianist--her creativity and example are behind every decent idea I've ever had for primary. After all of this, I went away with a renewed sense of how quickly this time passes. We barely have time to blink before our babies become toddlers who become teenagers. And it left me wondering how to possibly cram all the important things into these few years.
Since we got back, I've been trying to be better. Our family bedtime rituals have become more consistent and important (and sadly more drawn out--10 pm bedtime for preschoolers anyone?) to me. I have a stronger sense of the importance of my role as teacher to the rowdy rapscallions in my 9-year-old primary class. I'm more accutely aware than ever that it really does take a village to raise a child, and I want to do my best to make sure that every child in our little primary here has the same sense of being loved and important that I know every child did there in that great big ward family in Cincinnati.
Also, I had a delicious cake and a promise of whatever (on sale) netbook I want once Black Friday comes around. It was a most excellent birthday!
