My different hats:
Wife, mother, teacher,
daughter, sister, friend,
writer, musician, artist,
cook, waitress, washing-woman,
heart of the home...
I love (a few of my favorite things):
a beautiful sunset, and the feel of cool, wet grass on my toes in the summer...
running my fingers through the soft fur under the belly of a cat...
watching the peaceful faces of my children while they sleep...
listening to my husband breathe next to me in the middle of the night (when he isn't snoring) :) - how it reassures me that I'm not alone...
hearing my boys playing together in another room -- the unbelievable little boy noises and wonderful story-lines...
being the one to teach my children to read, and answer their questions about life, the universe, and everything...
yellow roses with pink tips, and the smell of lilacs in the spring...
the warmth of blankets during a storm, and the warmth of little bodies snuggled next to mine after their nightmares...
the sound of a guitar when you rest your ear against the resonating wood and feel the strings singing through it...
the flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder (as long as I'm not in tornado country) :)
hot cocoa and oversized sweaters...
knitting, reading (of course), and symphonies...
Austen, Dickens, Tolkien and Alcott.. (etc.)
poetry readings, and art galleries...
the gifts autism has shared with us, and how we have grown as a family..
the beauty of the Faith we share, and the blessings of the God we trust...
What I would like to live without - but things that have shaped who I am:
the deficits autism has revealed in my character...
the repeated loss of unborn children when we long for more...
the "hard times" that come and go...
the daily struggles that I face as a wife and mother...
These are a few of the things that tell something about who I am. I am striving to be more than just the woman I was yesterday - reaching for growth and strength to move forward. Life is a journey, and every moment, every breath, is an opportunity. In the busy-ness of life this fact is easily forgotten, but it is still true, and it is worth struggling to remember... and share...