Bradley was asleep when we left at 6:30 Saturday morning and asleep when we got home at 12:20 this morning? I’m not sure if I missed him more if he missed me more. But when he walked into our room at 4:28 this morning, I might have been barely awake, but we managed to stumble back to his room. He crawled into bed, and when I laid down with him, he snuggled right down with me and went back to sleep. I might have drifted in and out a bit, but I wasn’t in too much of a hurry, but I did go back to my bed and my impending 6:15 alarm so that it wouldn’t wake Eric and Bradley.
The girls and I returned to the Relay For Life event in order to help them close down and clean up the site. The winds hit like a freight train at 5am, so the event got smaller and smaller from then on. We helped get the Luminaries up and tried to protect them the best we could while the wind tried to destroy them. We mostly won. We picked up hundreds of them, stored the cans and carefully folded the bags and stored them. Normally, participants would return in the morning and gather their bags after the closing ceremonies. All those bags we collected and four people came back for theirs... we found half of the ones they were looking for, but one lady couldn’t even tell us clearly what we were looking for, or who. One older lady made me so sad because I couldn’t find hers. They are just bags...but they aren’t just bags; they hold love and grief and that makes for a heavy bag...and for some, some small amount of healing is in the bag. So almost everything went really well, but that still weighs.
So we finished the clean up and left the site for home. We got home a little after noon, and my boy was waiting. Eric said that he kept asking for me all day Saturday and even today,; so he told him, “Okay, there she is, Mommy.”
My guy came walking over, and he had full, both arms, long hugs for me. And this is something he has only stated doing in the last few days: he puckers now, and gives defined kisses. Defined, like a pucker and a release, maybe deliberate is the better term. Before he would kiss you, but he would just put his mouth against your cheek and it was more a hug with his face - lately, since the introduction of that “Boo-Boo” song, he is being deliberate. It is a pucker, it is placed, and then after he plants his lips, there is the release. It feels like a kiss. They have always been real; Bradley’s always given kisses...but they’re just more typical now. They are a representation of a milestone he has reached every time he gives you one, a sweet reminder of something new. And getting one, is a small gift but a most a precious gift.
His hugs are sometimes quick, distracted ones, and sometimes he will give big, full hugs. Today was the big hug, the put everything aside and come straight in to wrap his arms around each of us in turn and hold tight. Each hug brought his voice and an identifying name. It was so good to be home. And to have him come back for more hugs after he made his rounds with the girls; yeah, definitely good to be home.
I love my time with my girls, cherish every moment actually. But never mistake how much I also cherish my boys. I am sure that in the wee hours when Bradley and a I meet, I will desperately try and fail to not snuggle with him longer than I should and probably encourage behavior that I will regret the next night in the wee hours...but I did miss him very much, he did miss me, and he’s super cute when he is sleepy and cuddly - so there’s that.
There is just something very special in the way that your kids choose to show you they love you so you should pay close attention so you never miss the wonder and joy waiting for you each time; it’s so worth it...
Closing down now after a very long weekend. I’m hoping to get a nap in before Bradley comes
throwing our door wide open in the middle of the night.
Happy Sunday! 31 For 21 Blog Challenge - Down syndrome Awareness and Acceptance.
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