It’s a Love Story

I woke up yesterday morning to a notification that our oldest daughter, who lives just a mere 20 minutes away! :-) - had “arrived at home” in the middle of the night around 12:30. As in just past midnight. Anyone familiar with Life 360 will understand. For those who don’t, it’s an app that allows families to keep connected (AKA tracking). Home is our house. Whenever someone leaves or arrives at our house, everyone in the circle gets a notification. It wonderful, and I’ll be happy to share, in a future post, how it has served us so well. My immediate thought was “What? What did I miss? Is everything okay? Is she sitting outside on the step freezing?” Maybe it was just a error. Maybe the notification actually meant her “home” across town. After going down stairs and pouring my coffee, I checked the door which is always locked. The deadbolt was unlocked. She actually must have been here...?

And then it occurred to me - she came in the middle of the night to help her sleep-deprived sister who was coping with a newborn who wanted nothing but to be attached fully to his mommy. They had probably been texting or Snapping and she knew she needed some encouragement, and rather than wake me up, she had just come over to keep her company. 

On the way to take my other daughter to school, I called my oldest and asked why it was that I got a strange, middle-of-the-night notification that she had been at my house. :-) They had, indeed, been texting and had decided that maybe what would help was a different type of pacifier than the one the hospital had provided. Baby wanted nothing to do with that one, and mama was just about to lose her mind. “Wake mom up and have her go to Walmart to get some different styles.”  Nope, she said she’d just wait until the next day. What was one more night of sleeplessness? 

But rather than let her go through another night, she packed up her own newborn (well, actually 12 week old!) and drove to Walmart, picked up a plethora of pacifiers and brought them by the house. When the baby fell asleep before she arrived, she told her sister she’d just leave them on the counter in the kitchen so she’d have them when she needed them. By the time she arrived at the house, the baby had woken up again, so her sister told her to come on up. They talked a bit and offered a different type to baby, and low and behold, he took it - and in a few minutes while they chatted, he went off to sleep. Sisters said goodnight and off she went back to her house. It was the best night of sleep the new mama has had in a while :-) Can’t say the same for the other mama - she went home to her two-year old waking and standing at the foot of his bed crying for her every thirty minutes for the rest of the night :-0 

Such love, such compassion and kindness. I have been saying I knew the sisters would be good for each other; it’s so, so, so very good to have her home again. Even believing in my head and heart that it would be good for these girls to be able to share life together, I never anticipated this kind of love in action. I am moved beyond words.

Witnessing this and other recent behavior from family and friends, leads me to want to add something to the title of my blog. I’ll be working on that soon. See if you notice the addition... ;-)

For those who observe it, may Lent be a time of growth and renewal for your heart and spirit.

And Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

Peace & Joy ❤️