Parental thoughts

I have been pondering the relative briefness of the three and a half years that I have been a parent while marveling at the depth of attachment that has formed in that short time. If you had asked me five years ago if I could fathom the strength and complexity of the love a parent has for a child, I would have said yes, because I loved my dog very deeply. And I would have been wrong. In the three short years that Dennis has lived on this planet, he has so firmly entrenched himself in our hearts and lives that I can hardly remember what we did during the twelve years of our marriage before he arrived. He has also thoroughly intertwined his stuff with our stuff, and I think it's symbolic of our relationship. His things are evident in every space in our home. Thoughts of him, things we do with him, for him--those things are evident in every decision we make in our lives, every place we go he is there in person or in thought. And I love that. I love everything about that. It's an awesome responsibility, but what an awesome gift! I often think God created the parent-child relationship so that we could attempt to understand a fraction of the nature of His love for us. And also so that we could understand the type of sacrifice that was made for our salvation, God's own Son. Deep thoughts for a rainy fall evening, I know, but it's been on my mind lately. Not because his behavior was flawless today (it wasn't), but more because I have been noticing things: his sock in with my clothes in the dryer, his tiny work glove peeking out from under my side of the bed (who knows how it got there), his favorite foods in the pantry, his books on the shelves in the library, Legos in the hallway, puzzles in the den, tiny toothbrushes in the bathroom and toys in the tub, a wagon in the living room. He is everywhere in this house and everywhere in my heart, and I cannot imagine a life any other way. How blessed we are, how incredibly blessed.

No, we don't have a new pet. This is Winston, a not quite four month old bulldog that belongs to a friend. We met him today and he is completely (disgustingly) adorable. He and Dennis were instant friends.