A Love Letter for my Love Bug

This girl.

She steals hearts. I knew before she was conceived that she would be my feisty one. But I never knew that such a feisty girl could be equally loving. She has given me more than I deserve. Redemption. Forgiveness. And endless cuddles.

Oh my, the cuddles. From the time she was an itty baby, she was such a cuddler (which was quite a change from Zee, who was quite the porcupine).



When Maggie was just days old, I brought her into the tub with me. It was like she was meant for the water. She laid in my lap, reveling in the warm water. It was her paradise, warmth and milk and Mommy. A few months later, we started bringing her in the shower with us. She loved to feel the warm water rain down on her. She would lie her head on our chests and just stay there, perfectly content.

My sweet girl is coming up on three years old. Three! Where have the years gone? A blink of an eye ago, she was just my itty bitty, giving her feisty smiles, challenging us with her eyes.

She is still so cuddly though, even while challenging us. Our koala bear.

Commonalities

We are in a new place. Back in Colorado Springs, but that's not what I mean. For the first time in our military experience, Jay and I decided to move on post (or base for those non-Army folks). We are living in military housing. There are a few really good reasons why we chose to do this, and we are very happy with the choice.

Happy indeed.

I have yet one more reason that I love it, and it's not one I can really explain too well.

This is the sight I see out my front door.



I know it's hard to see (because I was trying to photograph the gorgeous clouds and not the so-so houses), but take a closer look at this picture.

The houses on post...there are two types. The old houses and the new houses. If you're "lucky", you get a new house. We were not "lucky", and I realize now what a misconception I had about it. The old houses have been renovated, so for all intents and purposes, they are the same on the inside as the new houses.

But the outside. Oh my. Are those clotheslines I see?! Indeed, they are. The new houses, the "lucky" people...they don't have that.

When I sit out on my back patio, I see old brick houses from the early '70's. And seeing all of those clotheslines brings me back. It reminds me of a time before I was alive. How 40 years ago, some women here were the "lucky" ones getting new houses. How they sat in this same exact spot and saw the same exact view.

And I think about how life was so different then. Yes, phones were around, but long distance calls were expensive. These families didn't get to talk to their loved ones every day. Phone calls home were special. That left them each other to rely on. I can see them now, the women in their house dresses, out hanging their wet laundry together, talking to each other with clothespins in their mouths. Helping each other, being there for each other when their families could not be.

This house has been lived in. It has been full of strong women before me. I hope I can live up to what this house begs of me.