Friday, February 20, 2009

Constant Companions

Tonight Robin asked this, "What do you do as a couple or family or even on your own that is without distraction or outside influences? "

What a great question. This is my answer. Plus a story, of course.

Last night I had a date with my Mom for a card-making class. We had a great time together and ended the evening having a late dinner with Dad. The times when it's just the three of us are few and far between. A granddaughter requires a lot of time and conversation, you know. It was so wonderful to be with them minus the usual demands on my attention. We just sat around and talked and talked. And talked. Heaven.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey and Sloane were enjoying a night at home. When I got home he told me about their evening. The two of them had piled up on the couch together and read. Until bedtime. Jeffrey said, "Relyn, I know it sounds silly, but I've been waiting for this night since she was born."

I know just what he meant. Our family's best connections are when the three of us pile up in the living room to read. We often lay on top of and over-lapping each other. Heads in laps, ankles intertwined, holding hands... touching somehow. We read separate books and interrupt each other to read aloud the good parts. Or, to insist that someone else read aloud whatever they are laughing at. Sometimes we're all together and we're reading the same book. We take turns at being the narrator. Other times we all listen to the same book on tape. However we do it, we love to read together.

Books. Our constant companions. One of our steady joys.

And you? What are you reading this weekend?


Book stack by Girl Hula. Lawson's weekend book list: Sloane - Capitol Mystery series by Ron Roy. Relyn - For the Love of Old, Tallgrass, and a big pile of magazines. Jeffrey - three teen lit books for his grad school class. Family - Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary.

17 comments:

christina said...

That is so sweet. To fill that waiting moment with such beauty. : )

Jeanne said...

I love all you share.
We went to see Slumdog Millionaire last night and to our grand angels hockey game.
Relaxing right now and going to mass tonight
sunday always a day for delicious home cooked meals and watching movies in winter.
Love you

beth said...

just think what a great wife and mother your daughter will be based on what you're teaching her now!!!

{reading:five things I can't live without...after reading.... love and other natural disasters...love this author and of course laura was the one who told me about her}

happy weekend!!

Unknown said...

Hello Relyn,

I'm glad you are all finding that time to just 'be' without life's distractions. Enjoy the weekend.

spread your wings said...

this is such a beautiful picture of "family"

Ragamuffin Gal said...

What a beautifully written picture of your family ~ I could just see it so clearly in my head all of you doing what you do best ~ being such an inspirational family.
Love Love LOVE all of you! Blessings, me

ELK said...

pure JOY to read this So affirming...
and the time with dad ...so important!

Patti said...

Hi Relyn~ Lovely post...you know I love reading and just this morning finished The Middle Place and cried for awhile, missing my mom and dad. I plan to start on The History of Love recommended by...YOU! Molly is not much of a reader,which is hard for a reading teacher to accept, but we watched Secret Life of Bees last night (which I read) and she loved it (and even cried which is so NOT her)...so it's kind of close to reading since I read it, right? have a wonderful weekend~
Patti

Unknown said...

Relyn, just read your comment on my Taj Mahal photo.

If you have the chance just go. Plan it for November, that's the best time.

About full moon !!!!!!!!!!!
I keep my fingers crossed for you.

Gina


ww.ginaspics.net

Betsey said...

thank you so much for all your wonderful, sweet comments. :) I am so glad you found my blog & that you are enjoying it! To answer your question; the song is by Yann Tiersen and is called "Comptine d'un autre ete: L'apres midi. If you love that one you will LOVE everything else by Yann Tiersen- he is genius! Have a lovely day!

Stephanie said...

Relyn-
Found you through our dear friend at Unweaving the Nest. Lovely blog. I work on several books at once ususally- Currently I'm reading "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris, "Best of American Erotica 2008" edited by Susie Bright (makes for good bedside reading!), and "Oblivion" by David Foster Wallace.
Thanks for writing! Looking forward to reading more...

paris parfait said...

Reading together as a family - such a wonderful thing and a lifelong habit!

Dutchbaby said...

I love the image you paint of the three of you intertwined as one reading organism.

Very nice photo, too!

Jaime said...

How wonderful! Whether you are all reading the same book or you are each lost in your own story or adventure, those moments all entwined with one another are precious. Pure comfort.

xo

Suvarna said...

Oh Relyn,
You have just described our most perfect rainy day weekend activity! we love to read together and some of our best reading takes place with us piled up on top of each other on the couch. Right now My son and I are reading Best Mate by Michael Morpurgo. It's a wonderful story about a boy who rescues greyhound pups from being drowned. He gets to keep Best Mate who gets kidnapped by Greyhound racers... and that's as far as we got because it was mistakenly returned to the library! lol We'll let you know the rest when we make our next library trip!
Hugs
Suvarna

Anonymous said...

did i truly not comment here on this post? i swear i said it all in my head. you already know how much reading is a part of my families' life. and i grew up reading with my parents like you describe with you, sloane and jeffrey. not quite so cozy but pretty close to it. i loved that about my parents. that they were readers made me a proud child. to me in represented smart and hip and cool. i remember how happy i was when my father agreed to read books i offered to him. books that moved me to the edge of everything. and he also was moved. They were The Grapes of Wrath and The Lord Of The Rings. i will always love my father for doing this for me. he would never have chosen them on his own.
XOX

p.s. forgive me if i posted this twice i walked away to one of your links and couldn't remember if i hit the publish button.

Dandy said...

Really, an entire family reading together?! That just sounds like heaven and my heart did a little flutter.

Oldies, but Goodies