The Never Normal

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
~ Corrie Ten Boom

On Saturday Boo was his reliable, predictable self, and yet he never ceases to amaze me.  Andy had taken him overnight and so he was there when we arrived.  He had been asking for “grandma” and “mama” all morning, yet when we arrived he was more interested in the food my mother had brought him.  This time she’d added a new item:  a small container of mini-Oreos.  Jonah’s not the type to eat things in what others might consider a “logical order” – food, then dessert.  His banquet must be presented all at once, and though he did eat most of his sandwich, the Oreos were a big attraction.

Jonah enjoys the stuff in the middle — the meat and cheese inside the bread, his fingers first tap-tap-tapping against the sandwich and then, usually, discarding the bread altogether to get to whatever is the middle.  It was no different with the Oreos.  He held each mini Oreo carefully in his little hands and pulled it apart, scraping the creamy white stuffing out of the middle, then discarding the two outer cookie pieces.

cookie fun

He gleefully attacked his lunch with fervor.

cookie mouth

YAY!

We are waiting for warmer weather but offered to take him to the park anyway, or the train, or the Poet’s Walk.  When we asked him if he wanted to do any of these things he answered “no,” sweetly but firmly, to each one.  “Transfer station?” he asked, which is a recycling facility where Andy takes his paper and cans, etc. every Saturday.  It is car ride Jonah wants, and he almost always says “grandma stay here.”  I think it’s because he wants the whole backseat to himself.  So my poor mother is stuck watching QVC and Fox News on Andy’s TV until we return for a bath and then another request for car ride.

I found out about an open swimming program at Bard College on the weekends, but Andy seems reluctant to take him, lest he throw a fit.  I want to try, though.  Perhaps M will come down with me some Sunday and we can take him.  Jonah loves the water so much!  I was ready to book a 3-night stay in Cape Cod this summer, to take him to the ocean with Andy, to watch him frolic in the waves, to hear his little voice cry gleefully for ocean!  It is a word we do not use, for if we cannot take him it would be mean to plant the idea in his head.  Now it looks like I may be hard-pressed to take him at all.  I will find a way, for I am a determined mom and want to give the gift of ocean to my Boo.

I would like to end this post with some quotes and passages upon which I have been reflecting.  There are discoveries to make, and self-improvements to make, and faith to build.  There is self-awareness and I am attempting to step away from myself and see myself as others see me.  I am looking deep into a metaphorical mirror to ensure I can remain true to myself and to everything I have ever wanted to be…a great mother, a loyal friend, a good person.  Most of all I am seeking to be kind to all I encounter, to forgive, to understand (and not only to be understood),  as in the prayer of St. Francis, perhaps my favorite prayer/hymn.  I am praying it with everything inside me and turning things over to the certain God in which I believe.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Oh Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

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“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.”

~C. S. Lewis

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