Love Is In The Air

There really is no reason all of my children shouldn’t be getting married now.  Sure, when it comes to event planning I haven’t tackled anything harder than a laser tag birthday party, but weddings are fun, and besides, Scarlett would make a lovely child bride.  But for now I suppose I’ll have to resign myself to having JUST two daughters engaged at the same time. Heavy sigh.  So boring.  Sort of like watching March of The Penguins.  That’s right, ONLY Julia got engaged last Friday, but it was really sweet, so I think I’ll tell you about it.

Falling in love with someone from Oregon when you’re from Florida is advisable only for those with gigantic personal bubbles.  For anyone else, an entire country separating you from the one you love is a bit irksome.  And it’s fair to say that Julia was irked.  She wanted to see Paul, wanted to show him around her hometown, and so she suggested as much.  But Paul said he was swamped, and so instead of belly aching (very much,) she got busy enjoying the time she had at home until her summer job in Park City started, not realizing all the while that scheming was afoot.
Around a month ago Paul called me wondering if he could enlist our help.  He wanted to surprise Julia by popping up here and popping the question.  We knew they loved each other, knew an engagement was imminent, that it was just a question of when, and so we told him we we’d be happy to help.  And right from the start two things became clear—we were bumblers when it came to espionage, but it was okay, because Julia was oblivious.During Family Home Evening when Rich announced that the oldest son of his favorite mission companion, Manuel Lopez, was coming from Chile to visit, Julia didn’t smell a rat, even when he said his name was Pablo.  Pablo!  My body went cold.  I thought for sure the gig was up, that Rich had blown our cover, but Julia did not raise an eyebrow in suspicion.  She remained blissfully oblivious, despite Rich snatching her phone out of her hand when she suggested we search for him on Facebook, and me announcing his name was NOT Pablo, but Javier.Julia was happy to help me ready the house for Javier’s visit, not that the house was messy.  My house is never messy.  She just spruced a little, did some minor dusting.  And getting a new dress on Tuesday, new shoes and a Bruster’s ice cream cone (I usually say no) on Thursday, a mani-pedi, hair appointment, and breakfast with her Dad on Friday meant nothing more than she was having a fantastic week.  Little remembrances of Paul showing up throughout the day on Friday--a Buzz Lightyear toy on the kitchen counter, her dad and her little brother wearing loud socks, black licorice dropped off by my visiting teachers—added up to nothing more than coincidence.  And so when I suggested that she put on her new outfit and we go to Hollis Gardens to take pictures she was willing to oblige.  It was, after all, Prom weekend.  Her mother was just in the picture taking mood.Julia walked into the garden with nothing in particular on her mind, just a happy girl indulging her mother's sudden photography kick.  I suggested we start taking pictures in the grotto, a rock garden with hanging vines and koi pond.  She stepped down, I stepped away, and then Paul stepped forward.If you’ve seen the video you’ll agree that she looks pretty casual, like she was expecting Paul to emerge from behind a rock arch, but what you’re really seeing is a girl so stunned she appears calm.  Julia didn’t keep Paul in suspense long.  She said, “Yes,” and it was such a pleasure to  be there and witness their happiness.Over the past year that they’ve dated, I’ve thought more than once how lucky Paul is to have caught Julia’s eye.  Maybe I’m biased, but I think she’s awesome.  But what seeing them together for a few days here made me realize is she’s lucky too.  Paul is a great guy, and his love for her is what any parent would want for their daughter.  Congrats, Paul and Julia.  Let the wedding planning begin!

Sweet Caroline

Just in time for menopause, Bruce Jenner is becoming a woman.  As vice-president of the Hot Flashes Society, I’ve got to say that may not go down as the best decision he’s ever made.  But hey, we all make choices we regret.  Like, for instance, me, neglecting my blog for months on end.  Yeah, shouldn’t have done that.  But life sometimes can be like caravanning behind a friend who has a lead foot—you’re trying to keep up, but they’re going so fast!  Enough excuses.  It’s time for me to channel my inner Jeff Gordon, because whether I write about it or not, life is going to keep speeding past, especially now that we have a daughter who’s engaged.

Had Rich and I been more analytical (and a tad less passionate) Caroline wouldn’t be here.  Life for us at the time was a sketchy affair—two kids already to our credit, one still an infant, and Rich a new law student making zero dollars an hour, we weren’t exactly ready to welcome anyone else into our family.  But that’s what I wanted.  It wasn’t a decision based on logic, and so when I miscarried, I didn’t’ view it as us dodging a very expensive bullet.  This was a decision based on love.  Whether it made sense or not, I wanted another baby. 

And so, Caroline came into our world, arriving toward the end of Rich’s second year of law school, and right before I started graduate school.  She was beautiful, and blessed with a sweet disposition.  We called her our snuggle buggle, and pled with her to stay four forever, because she was such an adorable preschooler.  Time with her in our home slipped away fast.  Like sucking a milkshake through a straw, it was gone before we knew it.  Now Caroline is engaged, a temple date has been set, and part of me is wanting to point out that, logically speaking, they’re too young, too poor, and have too much schooling still ahead of them.  But this is a decision based on love, and if Caroline’s life has taught me anything, it’s that from those decisions spring forth life’s greatest blessings.

Whatever hardships we endured from deciding to have Caroline I’ve forgotten.  I’m sure there were missed trips to the mall, and lovely cuts of roast beef I couldn’t justify buying.  Certainly there was stuff we missed out on because of that baby girl.  But now we have stuff.  We have plenty of stuff, and we also have Caroline.  We have her kindness, her humor, her music, her beauty, and sometimes her sass.  We have pure joy, and even Neiman Marcus doesn’t carry that.