Once upon a time
There was a family with five daughters
Five.
Daughters.

So let me ask you,
“Who is richer, a man with five daughters
Or a man with a million dollars?”
And the answer is …
The man with five daughters …
Because he knows he has enough.

It is good to be part of a family
That knows it has enough …
That knows it is enough
To be wrapped in love
To be accepted, regardless.
Even when you break the rules,
Or break the mold
Or, ok, when you break wind.

It is good to be part of a family
Where adoption is as strong as birth,
And there are no half-sisters,
Only whole.

Where love draws you in and tells you
In the very center of your soul
That you are enough,
Just as you are,
Already.

When I count my blessings
These are surely at the top of the list:
A family whose love for each other
Has verified the miracle of enough.
It is the tangible evidence and true reflection
Of an even greater love
That surrounds us all.

[a sister slumber party with our folks 2/26/16]

That whisper …
It is the brush of the Holy One upon my soul,
It is the kiss upon my cheek
That wakes my spirit to the day.

That wonder,
That gasp and sigh,
That aching hope,
That tear,
They are mine in response.

Do you not know?

I think you do.
The call of beauty
Cannot be ignored.

On this Valentine’s Day,
When everyone is thinking of love,
Or wishing for love,
Or claiming and proclaiming love,
I wake to joy.

I wake to a warm memory of a cold night.
I wake to smile at the edges of delight
Sketched on my memory.
The evidence of love in the simple,
More than the spectacular.

To watch a mother watch her children dance,
To join friends sharing whiskey, wine and cheese,
To see a daughter revel in her daddy’s joy,
Is to cuddle up close to the warmth
Of deeper flames.

Was that a shiver of cold or of delight?
The exquisite splash of note and tone,
The words that speak to simple truths,
Of dusty memories and faithful harmonies.
It makes the singers giddy. Completely.

I know it, too …
The sweet tug of love expressed in apricot pies,
It sings within my soul.
Not loud, but oh, so very real.
And I am grateful.