This past week has been filled with departures and arrivals, all starting with us packing up our suitcases and heading to Midway to pick up my grandfather, who flew in from Fort Myers to help make us make the trek down to Fort Myers via automobile.
In the moments before John left for week that morning of our departure, I lingered a few extra moments in our embrace and whispered I loved him an extra time. {Even after six years of marriage, being apart for four days still chokes me up.}
In the moments before John left for week that morning of our departure, I lingered a few extra moments in our embrace and whispered I loved him an extra time. {Even after six years of marriage, being apart for four days still chokes me up.}
The boys and I spent the next three days in a series of more arrivals and departures, celebrating loudly and vibrantly at each hotel stop for the night before finally {finally!} making it to Fort Myers. The littles literally bounded into the soft hugs of my awaiting grandmother ...
But because life with boys isn't complete until we've had at least one major heart palpitation moment {apparently} we had an unexpected departure via ambulance with an arrival at the local children's hospital just an hour after arriving at my grandparent's house.
Thankfully, with E firmly snuggled in my exhausted arms, just hours later we left the ER when the doctor deemed E's lungs clear after a scary choking incident. As I cuddled him to sleep, I lingered longer than normal, just listening to his rhythmic breathing, thanking God for His careful watch.
The next night John's plane was scheduled to land around 11:15 p.m., but a snowstorm in Chicago delayed his departure ... and he didn't end up arriving here into the warmth of Florida air and my arms until 3:30 a.m. I pulled my tired body from bed when I heard the door creak open and shut, shuffled over to my exhausted husband and lingered in an embrace longer than I normally would when he walks through the door after a long day at work.
And, this week, in this drought of arrivals and departures, I store in my heart the sweetness that was hardpressed from the past week's tensions, let it drip onto my tastebuds, coating my senses with the most succulent juices life squeezes from the ripest fruits of love and time spent together.
With Valentine's Day fast approaching {it's tomorrow, yo!}, we've been celebrating all thing sweet this past week over at Bigger Picture Blogs. Sweet stories, sweet recipes, sweet photos ... all leading up to one big sweet surprise!
