Checking on Pop

Last weekend I went to Maine on a ski trip with friends and I had an amazing time. It was an anniversary, birthday,Christmas, Valentines,St. Patty's Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Easter, and Thanksgiving present that P and I gave each other this year.  It was a short trip, but it was amazing none the less.

Look at this view, its amazing. How could it get any better?

While we were on the trip, my dad had his heart attack.  My parents did not tell me while we were on the trip. We flew back into town on Monday, and my mom text me around 8:00 PM asking if I had time to chat. I called her and we talked about the trip, and then she dropped the bomb. By 8:15 I had the Ipad on my lap looking for flights home.

I flew down to my parents neck of the woods on Friday around 5:00. I gave my dad a big hug and he and my mom assured me that he was ok, and was going to make a full recovery.

On the way from the airport I looked out my car window and saw this sunset. I sat there quietly for a moment and was so utterly grateful that my dad was going to be around awhile longer. I have looked at this picture quite a bit lately simply because we live in the city, and you  don't see views like this from our place, although, I can't honestly remember the last time I walked outside to try and see the sunset.

It saddens me that it took a medical emergency for me to stop and take note of something so extradorinary as a sunset. Its so beautiful and big, that it makes me feel small, but it a good way. It reminds me that somewhere, someone else is looking at that exact same sun setting, and they are going through something worse than I am.

 

I made a promise to myself that I would get up early on Saturday and Sunday and chase the sun rise. I would be outside, and bask in the beauty around me. Both days I woke up, put on my running shoes and hit the pavement. I ran to feel good. I did not have my garmin, I have no idea my pace, my distance, or the calories I burned. I ran, I walked, I turned my music on and off. I simply enjoyed a quiet morning, a slow morning, a morning for me.

 

In the end it was a good trip. My dad has to make some changes in his diet, and I was full of suggestions, and to say my dad was not pleased with what I suggested would be an understatement.

To him, anything beyond red meat and potatoes is exotic, his word, not mine. My way of eating must truly baffle him.

 

I was telling him about the wonder of kale chips, oatmeal, and tofu.  I think in that moment he wished the heart attack had just ended it.

 

He survived my suggestions, and even had oats for breakfast this morning.

 

Of all the things I saw this weekend, I think the most beautiful was my family. My mom, dad, grandma, and uncle. The only thing missing was P. Even when my mom and dad were bickering about food choices, it was good. In that moment I was reminded of a quote by Elizabeth Elliot

"Snoring is the sweetest sound you will ever hear, just ask any widow."

 

This week I vow not to let "busy" stop me from seeing the beauty all around me. I will open my heart, open my eyes, and allow myself to be vulnerable, to be full, to be empty, to just be.

 

What is the most beautiful thing you have seen, heard, or witnessed recently?