I realize I said my goal was to write a memory every night and it has officially been over a month since typing any memory down. What can I say??? It's been one of those months. So I was thinking of a memory today I want to write about.
When Seth and I had been married for about three years we decided to move. Half-way across the country. To a little town in Iowa that neither of us had ever been in. To a 100 year old house we had never even seen photos of (by the way, it was a little scary. And by a little, I mean a lot).
I had just finished graduate school and we thought it would be a great idea to move to a place that was inexpensive to live and inexpensive for Seth to go to school. I was offered a job in Keokuk and being excited to get paid more than minimum wage for any job, I jumped at the chance.
We were so brave. Or dumb. Probably (most likely) a little of both.
As was expected, I got homesick. I still do, really. Some days are worse than others, but it is always hard for me to be away from my family. Seth's family is so awesome and I am really close to all of them. But your own family is special. They know your history. They are your history.
Anyway, every year for Christmas Seth and I travel to either stay with my family in Utah, or we go to his parents house in Belle Plaine, Iowa. Christmas's are always fun no matter where we spend them but this memory comes from a Christmas spent in Utah, about two years after we had moved to Iowa.
It was Christmas morning and after we had all (Mom, Dad, Keri, Jon, and us) opened our usual haul of presents from "Santa" at mom and dad's house, we headed up to Jamie's house to see what her kids had gotten and to exchange our sibling presents.
Now, by my calculations, Alexa (my niece) was about 8 at this time...I could be off...but she was around that old. In school, her class had made these calanders where they colored a picture for each month of the year and then had it bound into a calendar. Well, out of anyone she could have chosen to give that to, she chose me.
I was really surprised to be getting a gift from Alexa. When I opened it and saw it, it was so special to me I just started to cry. Somehow the culmination of all the struggles and heartaches I had experienced in the last few years away from home all melted away when I got that hand made gift from her. It was, perhaps, one of the best gifts I have ever gotten.
I have that calendar in my cedar chest right now. Whenever I see it, it brings tears to my eyes and I think about how sweet and loving that little girl is. Well, she's not a little girl any more, but she is no less sweet and loving.
Seeing that calendar helps me remember that even while I'm not usually in Utah to do all the fun things with my family I used to do (camping, fathers day picnic, parade of homes, etc.) I am still just as close to them. And probably even more so.
I have truly learned to appreciate those moments that I took for granted for so long. Maybe if I would have never moved so far away, I would never have realized what a treasure I had been given, to be a part of my family. So for that, I am thankful. And when I see that calendar, I think of those things.
So to my sweet Alexa: Thank you for that gift. I will keep that calendar forever.
This is Alexa on the day she was baptized.
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