Before chemo, before cancer and even before Ethan; there were our walks. Christopher and I would walk around our neighborhood talking about anything and everything. We would point out houses that had an interesting landscape and we would try to figure out how that would work on our house. We talked about the future and what it held for us.
Speed up a few years ahead and well our walks had become far and few between. Chemo has made Christopher's body react oddly to the temperature outside. Some day's he felt like it was 110 outside, when in reality it was only 75.
The other day on the way home from worked I called Christopher and asked him if he was up for a walk and to my surprise he said he was! So when I got home, we changed our clothes, strapped Ethan into the big red wagon and went for our walk. It was so wonderful to talk and enjoy each others company. It was life before the tail spin and it felt good.
As we approached home and maneuvered the red wagon up our walk way to the house, Christopher reached in his pocket to hand me the house keys. It was at that moment that I looked at him in a different light. Here is a man that at the age of 33 has gone through more in his life than most people at the age of 55. Looking at Christopher in that moment reminded me of a verse in a song:
He's a stranger to some
And a vision to none
He can never get enough,
Get enough of the world
For a fortune he'd quit
But it's hard to admit
How it ends and begins
On his face is a map of the world
It was then that I took the keys out his hand and reached over to give him a hug and said, "Thank you for the walk." A schmucky grim came over to his face and he said, "It was my pleasure, but you don't have to thank me."
But the smile on his face was enough for me. I knew when I saw that smile that he was glowing from the inside out and that meant more to me that he will ever know.
Everyone handles their relationships differently, but when was last time we all thanked those special people in our lives for something other than holding the door open or for buying us a gift? Try it next time, that smile on their face might just warm your heart as it does theirs.
1 comment:
You are right, we should all take the time to appreciate the "small", yet meaningful things more often. Thanks for the reminder.
Christopher (and you) are dealing with more than most people deal with at such a young age. You two continue to amaze me with your amazing attitudes. May God bless you both!
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