What I did on my summer vacation

I did not wear a watch this week.
I left my cell phone behind.
And when we finally got home last night,
    I found 691 unread and neglected emails
           still waiting to be opened,
           jostling in line like unruly children.
What did I miss?
Nothing at all.
     I relished in the freedom of being untethered.

I cannot remember when I have had this much fun.


My cup overflowed this week.
With the exception of one day last summer,
we had not been all together as a family
               in almost four years.

This mama's heart was so full,
   it is incredible I could even
   zip my suitcase closed.

Even watching our two-year-old

         grandson eating his breakfast cereal
  -- each bite surrounded by questions,
          why?  what dat called? --
     oh, so precious,

      and etched in my memories forever.

I breathed in the grace
of being with our four grown daughters 
      talking and walking
      and making meals
               all crowded in the kitchen
                       at the same time.
I watched our sons-in-law
      as daddies loving well their children
      and as husbands loving well our girls.

We laughed outloud.
We ate ice cream almost every night.
I watched Howie jump with two-year-old excitement
         and my heart did the same.
At almost six months,
       baby Adrian will remember none of this
       but know through the years
             how much he is loved.
At the supper table one night,
         in the middle of a meal,
    our three-year-old granddaughter Maggie
 leaned over
               and asked,
    "Even when I am grown up,
        will you still be my gramma?"
Oh, sweetie.  Indeed.
Always and forever.

We took family pictures --
            the best souvenir of all --
     just an image captured
             to remember this
         for the rest of our lives,
                  a precious and rare gift.
I lay in bed at night,
     unable to sleep
      just for the sheer joy
                 knowing everyone was here.