I had a very sweet surprise on Easter morning, serving as a great example of the good in my life. Saturday we were out and about as a family and we had to stop at the store before returning home. Cameron asked me if he could look at the Easter cards. He said he wanted to get a card for his friend. Sure. Clearly someone was feeling the Easter spirit - who can argue with that? So we started to look over the cards and he picked a beautiful card but I wasn't quite sure it was the best fit for his buddy given the heavy floral content and long message. I said, maybe we keep looking. His was noticeably fidgety which isn't totally rare for Cameron and he said, well maybe I will get one for Rette. I said, sure that's fine too. Then he asked me if he could just look and dismissed me to the end of the aisle. Watching him look and read the cards was very sweet. One he picked up and immediately put back because the inside greeting was so long. He comes by that naturally.
He emerged with a card and a corresponding yellow envelope and asked if I thought Dad would buy the card for him along with the other things he was buying. I said, I'm sure he will.
Early Easter morning I heard Cameron downstairs in the kitchen. Jim went out for a jog and I was comfortably laying in bed for a few quiet moments before starting the day. I heard footsteps come upstairs, go into the bathroom and started to hear the sounds of a 9 year old grooming. He got dressed for church and went back downstairs. When he heard me get up he came upstairs with a huge grin and told me when I was ready he had something for me downstairs. He also said, go ahead and take your shower, no rush.
In the meantime Jim came home and asked if I had been downstairs. He asked if he could tell me and I agreed. He whispered that Cameron had made breakfast for me and the card he'd picked out was for me. It warmed my heart so much that I could have ended the day right then feeling nothing but blessed.
I went downstairs to see my surprise and, again, the smile on Cameron's face truly lit up the room. I sat down and enjoyed my, by that time, cold toast with butter and glass of juice. I read my beautiful card and stopped to take inventory of all that is good in my life. Cold toast never tasted so delicious. And I plan to keep the card forever and make a point to read it as a reminder of the beauty of childhood innocence and how we can all learn from simple acts of kindness. I'm not sure what inspired Cameron to do this, but I am very proud of his kind gesture and hope that stays alive in him throughout his life.
The rest of our day included going to mass - I might note I won the contest for closest guess to how long the service would last. We went to breakfast then spent the day at home. The boys played outside, we took our first bike ride of the season (although the cold, biting wind felt nothing like spring), we had an Easter egg hunt and ended with dinner.
Sometimes it's easy to focus on what we wish we had or wishing things were different. I am reminded once again there are many good things and people around me that make me happy.
Happy spring - embrace the newness of the season!
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