Thursday, March 20, 2014

Days Like These

On days like these I'm thankful.

Thankful for videos.

For they allow me to relive the best years of my life through the lens of a Sony camera.

The year was 2003. Addie was 1; I was much, much younger. Thinner. Innocent.




There were no Smart phones or Facebook; no Instagram, nothing to steal my attention from the sweet curve of her cheek, the curl in her hair, or the way she'd say "a-woof" when I asked her what sound does the doggie make.

On days like these I'm thankful for laughter. The sound of Scott and me cracking up over a 14-month-old shoving waffles under the tray of her high chair.

On days like these I'm thankful for smiles.




A social calendar that was all but blank, for that gave Scott and me and Addie and our dog B all the time in the world to capture the mundane things on film.

Vaccuuming. Dancing. Singing. Living.

On days like these I'm thankful for the sound of my grandma and grandpa's voices in the background. For Scott's grandma asking the question we all do, "where has the time gone?"

On days like these I'm thankful for the itsy-bitsy spider and soooo big.

For linoleum floors in desperate need of a good scrubbing, beat-up woodwork, and an old house on Westplains Road.

I'm thankful we didn't have money to spare, for that meant we had to stay in.  And staying in always ended with a stroll around the neighborhood. I'm thankful for those strolls, the ones where we'd map out our dreams, not realizing our dreams were playing out right before our very eyes.

On days like these I'm thankful.

Thankful for videos.




7 comments:

  1. Love you Jamie...

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  2. We don't know each other, but I have thought about and prayed for you and your family ever since your Addie's tragic passing. I did not know your sweet daughter, but I find myself seeing her face in those of other little girls at the school I work at...so cute with her brown hair and glasses. I hope you are truly doing ok...that life is going well...that you are finding happiness. I had a child die too...my 3 day old son in 1999. Life definitely goes on, whether we are ready or not, and time does seem to ease the pain and darkness. I check your blog all the time~hoping you're surviving and thriving and finding joy. Please know that you and your Addie are certainly not forgotten! God bless your family :)

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    1. Thank you for your prayers and for taking the time to comment here today. I'm sorry for the loss of your son. There are days we are "ok," there are days where we find happiness sneaking up on us, and there are days like today. I appreciate your understanding...

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  3. Loved the video. So many wonderful memories on a tough day. Love you, Dad.

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  4. I don't know if you remember me, but I was Addie's teacher when she was one, at First National CDC. Through a random chain of events I happened to stumble across a newspaper article about Addie in the Journal Star. I just wanted you to know how very, very sorry I am to hear about Addie. I was a new teacher to the center when she came into my classroom and she was one of the first children I found myself attached to. In fact, I just mentioned Addie in a conversation to another teacher, about how she used to swallow pasta noodles whole at lunchtime like it was her job. :) She was an amazing one-year old and clearly grew to be an amazing, empathetic, caring young lady. I have a photo album of children over the years who've impacted my life and Addie is a big part of that album. I just wanted you to know that she left a footprint on my heart and I've thought of her often over the years.

    Dawn (Vondracek) Novak

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  5. Thank you, Dawn, for sharing that. It means so much to me to know that Addie made an impact on you. Thanks also for taking such good care of her. I was just talking about First National's Center and the amazing things you were able to do with kids the other day. We loved having Addie there. She was the 100th child to enroll in the center and we still have the little bear the center gave us for that. :-) Thank you again for reaching out and sharing...

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