You're a Fine Girl

Summer seems to bring me closer to a lot of the people I love. The boys and I are spending lots of hours digging, exploring, growing and sharing. Even the very utilitarian act of twice-daily sunscreen application connects us in a way that is hard to come by with otherwise squirmy, active boys. The busy little bathers love to snuggle in warm towels after a dip in the cold water and share a crunchy meal at the diner that is our vegetable garden. Throwing rocks, digging holes, eating ice cream and laughing during water play; we are united in a happiness not found during the dark days of winter.

Mr. Wonderful and I are tackling projects large and small in our yard, and our evenings are spent lounging in exhaustion and cocktails as we are amused by the lightening bugs that our boys become as the sun sets.

In summertime, we travel to see far-away family and friends, and if we're really lucky, they even come visit us while the trees are green, the sun is high, the sky is blue and The Mountain is out.

Summer just brought us a reunion with one of our favorite rays of sunshine:



Brandy has earned many special nicknames in our family, like "Brindee", or "B-Wo", or the latest, from Sam, "Bean".

I prefer to call her "Lifesaver".

Brandy started helping us out when she was in college and Max was six months old. She identified his first ear infection, calling me at work to tell me that he'd spent the day on her lap while holding her hair and sobbing in a fevery, damp mess. She had so much love and concern and competency in her voice that I felt so grateful to have her caring for my little guy when I wasn't there with him. She and I shared many laughs as Max moved from being an immobile ball of giggles into a crawling, walking, and running ball of giggles. And when we moved away, some ten months later, it was Brandy and my mom who helped make the hellish moving day go easier on all of us.

When Sam was born, Brandy was able to come during her summer break from college and help us out for a month as we transitioned from a family of three to four. She bounced our babe for hours while maxing out the bandwidth of the WB trying to catch every episode of "Gilmore Girls". I was slightly surprised that Sam's first words weren't Loralei or Rory. Brandy helped Max become a big brother and allowed me to have quiet moments with my big boy while she cared for our newest addition. Her able assistance helped ease the treacherous weeks of sleep-deprivation and attention adjustment. Brandy's easy laughter and humor is always appreciated around here and her heart is about the biggest size available in such a tiny and pretty frame.

Just like family, Brandy fits right in with all of us and we love her dearly. But unlike family, she's not stuck with us. She could easily shake us and laugh us off as another crazy chapter in her collection of wonderful stories. But she doesn't.

And we are so grateful.