Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Gratefulness



"As you wander through life,
whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the donut,
And not upon the hole!"


I do not know who wrote this little rhyme but I like it... it makes me smile...

These are old pictures from a poster, my son, Max made when he was much younger.... it was a little project of things that meant something special to him...

When Max was 4, we saw a butterfly sitting on a flower in the garden in late September... it just stayed there on that flower for several days... when we examined closer to see why it never left, we discovered it had a problem with its wings and could not fly...

As it was getting cold and rainy we felt sorry for the little thing, just sitting there, so we brought the butterfly and a bouquet of flowers into the house to our kitchen table... we fed him sugar syrup and watched his little tongue unfurl to sip it... it was very long! we let him live there and brought him fresh flowers everyday... sipping syrup for a month and a bit... till his life was over...

We were all sad when the little butterfly died... but we will always be grateful for the closeness, we had the opportunity to share.




Little dog Ziggy, who Max slept with every night since he was 2..... Ziggy was one year older than Max, and his favourite little play friend... Max had spelled out a birthday wish to him, in dog years, with dog kibble on the kitchen floor, that Ziggy promptly ate as soon as I took the picture...




Max also had this newspaper clipping on his poster.... from the Telegraph Journal, Saint John, NB. ... taken December 25, 1993... he was the Christmas baby that year...

He thought it was cool to be a Christmas present........... So did we!

...We even put him under the tree!
.

29 comments:

kate said...

What a lovely post! Very touching. Seems you have much to be grateful for. It's wonderful that you have fostered such creativity in your Max. I love his childhood photo project and his blog is pretty cool as well. Best present ever!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thank Kate ... When I remember to be grateful. I feel positive...

Sharon said...

Oh Gwen I LOVE this post! Especially getting to see your face for the first time clearly!!! You have such clear honest eyes and that top photo of Max is just too cute. What a sweetie.

(sorry Max, I know that's from a long time ago and that you're too mature now to be talked about like that but you really were cuter than a puppy!)

Anet said...

Wonderful, sweet, adorable Christmas Max and a forever grateful mom!!!
Thanks Gwen!

sandy said...

What a wonderful post and wow that Max was such a cutie, all those blond curls! How cool to be in the newspaper....

Nice seeing a young John and you with Max....

very interesting post today..thanks

Gwen Buchanan said...

Sharon...... time marches on... almost 15 years of wrinkles later...
...ugh...
Can't wait to see Max's red face when he sees your comment...


Thanks Anet, I was home by noon the next day... and we put Max under the tree too..
it was so much easier caring for Max as my older kids were 11, 14 and 16... it was as if he had 5 parents...


Hi Sandy,
Max curses his hair every day... yes it was a total surprise when they came in with the camera... whoa... just what every mother wants, after going through 6 hours of labor... their mug shot in the newspaper for everyone to see...

annette emms said...

What a delightful post Gwen. Such lovely happy pictures.Bless you.

mansuetude said...

What a beautiful tribute to awakefullness. To take in a butterfly, to feed it. I feel like we never know what soul is in any creature and you tended one of the gentlest.

On the doghnut hole--well, all donuts do end up as that donut hole--they disappear, so what is permanent is the absence or the little hole of air. :) Can't believe a donut becomes a philosophy lesson, but such is your blog. Peace.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh, Thank you Annette, the year we found the butterfly in our garden, Max spent many hours doing things round the table near her, as it was the year the last of the older children went off on life's adventures ... it was also the year we sold that house and that garden... This was a great happy memory to fill up those long days of endings...


Mansuetude, I love your donut thoughts, very fun... everything seems relative...

the little butterfly was very aware... whenever we put fresh syrup out for her she would come right over to it and begin sipping...

...I feel we must try to find happiness in the now, and the real... and try not to lose ourselves in false imaginings...

laura said...

What a sweet sweet face! Little boys just break your heart (little girls too I guess, but in a different way somehow!).

laura said...

Beautiful photo of you and John too. You look lovely, like Gillian Anderson! Ziggy looks exactly like my Itchy (there's a picture of him in my post on hurricane Ernesto, if you're curious); Itchy's part pomeranian, part who-knows-what.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Laura, he was so protective of the butterfly... it was so cute to see...

I'd love to see your little "Itchy" ( that sounds funny doesn't it!!) I was searching through your back posts but I couldn't find him or Hurricane Ernesto... maybe you could point me in the right direction .. Love that name..
Ziggy was a mix of terripoo..

Anonymous said...

It's all been said, so I'll just say, "Awww!"

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi mamaS, I'm glad to see you about!!

jo horswill said...

Gwen, this is what it's all about!Tending broken winged butterflies at your kitchen table with the most gorgeous 4yo helper!
Superb post, thank you for sharing these precious family memories...
You have brought joy and 'food for thought' to my day.

Ruth said...

'...I feel we must try to find happiness in the now, and the real... and try not to lose ourselves in false imaginings...'

Thanks, Gwen, I needed that tonight. In spite of everything I have to be grateful for, I feel caught by false imaginings. . . and thinking about what isn't.

Jazz said...

What a beautiful post. I loved it.

woolydaisy said...

wow! what a beautiful, beautiful sweet post! brought ears to my eyes!

woolydaisy said...

no my eyes don't have ears! ha! i meant to say tears!!!!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thank you Jo, Some days you wish you could bring back and do all over again. love your play on words!!

Ruth, do you ever wish your kids were still around ... I wish mine were all living within walking distance so I could see them every day. Selfish I know, but I miss seeing their daily lives..

jazz, that is sweet of you!!

WoolyD, It is great to have spent these past few years homeschooling.. It really gives us a chance to get to know our children on a whole different level ...

Gwen Buchanan said...

Wooly, I have done that so many times.. Don't worry we all learn to decipher as a new skill in blogging... haha..

Arija said...

Gwen dear, what a charmin post. Love the holy trinity cutting, that's the sort of thing I miss after the fire. I fully understand your bereft feeling about your children and bless my guardian angel every day for steering me to buy the farm so India and her three could grow up just down the hill a little from us. The eldest will be 21 next month, youngest is 16 and all three firmly grafted to our particular piece of heaven.
How wonderful to have a Christmas baby!
The story of the butterfly is so touching.. always amazing to see children caring for little hurt creatures.
Thank you so much for sharing.

flyinamber said...

beautiful post!

Ruth said...

You asked if I wish our kids were still around. Peter is here close by, although we don't see him all that much, maybe once every week or two. Having Lesley in NYC - I have to say I think we've had a better relationship since she moved away. We talk frequently on the phone. When she comes home, like last week, it was heavenly, and we all had a fantastic time. But I don't think I would want to be all together all the time. I do wish I could see her more than I do though. Once a month for a weekend would be great!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh Arija,
you are so lucky to have your family all near you so you can see them any time you want.. that is a true gift!
You mentioned ""that's the sort of thing I miss after the fire.""..

You had a house fire too???

I know what that means.. We lost everything we had from 15 years, even our sweet dog and cat as my house burned to the ground 3 weeks after christmas... It took me probably 5 years to become myself again... It changes how you think about things and I tend to value every moment now.

Asti said...

What a lovely post...got me smiling and feeling all fuzzy. Great picture of Max and Ziggy, you can see the love there :)

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Asti, Thank you!!
Max did love him very much.. Old Ziggy passed away last fall and Max was sad for a long time..

rivergardenstudio said...

Oh, what a lovely post. Adorable pictures of Max and Ziggy and the newspaper photograph of your little family is so poignant and sweet, just the wonder on your faces really touches me...Roxanne

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thank you Roxanne, I love the joyful colors on your Collage post.. so warm and cheery!!