Some weeks are normal, mundane, boring. Others are trying, stressful, and endless. Still more are full of adventure, excitement, and celebration. And then there are weeks like last week.
With an enormous storm headed my way, and the aftermath that followed, I’ve had myriad opportunities to seek out and revel in my Simple Joys. With devastation all around, bad news at every turn, and little opportunity to reach out to my online world, I’ve had to embrace each and every Simple Joy – no matter how large or small – to make it through. And I am one of the very lucky ones.
And now, without further ado, is this week’s Simple Joys.
Friends. In something as all-encompassing as a storm – in this case a Frankenstorm – that hits the community, it’s important to have friends in your life who reach out to you, check on you, and cheer you. I was so blessed to have friends both in my town and in my online world stay in contact with me throughout to check on my well-being.
Having friends in your life is always a good thing, but when you are cut off from the rest of the world and they reach out to you it is a Simple Joy to the nth degree.
Generator. Years ago when we moved into our home the power went out. Within minutes we heard our neighbors’ generators kick on and we knew we were in trouble. My husband saved the money and had a generator installed that would keep our home running for days.
Although we were without internet/cable/phones during and after the storm, and we had to conserve, it was a huge Simple Joy to be able to take a hot shower, cook a meal, and let the kids play Wii or watch a video.
“I Love Mom”. My middle child remembered he had not emptied his school folder. He excitedly scurried into his backpack, got a fistful of papers, and presented them to me. His first grade assignments were organized by subject – math, spelling, etc. Finally I came to a paper that was colored in marker with pinks, oranges, and yellows. It simply stated “I Love You Mom”.
No matter how many children I have, how many hand-written notes, it is always the source of the most emotion-filled Simple Joys to read that by my child’s hand knowing it was unprompted.
Husband. The storm has taken a lot away from people – trees, powers, homes, ocean front. But what it gave me was opportunity to spend time with my husband who was unable to report to work during the event.
He was around to clean up the storm, help me care for the children, drive me around post-storm to find provisions, and just spend quality time. It was certainly not an ideal way for him to be around, but any time my husband is around it provides ample Simple Joys for me.
Break. I have been writing every day non-stop since September 13, 2010. It’s been a wonderful experience and one I relish being able to do.
The storm’s effect was so vast that I was unable to get to an internet connection even when I was at a restaurant with free Wifi! Thus, I was unable to work like I normally do.
At first I was stressed out and put out by the turn of events. But, once I realized that I could not do anything about my circumstances I relaxed. And, truly, I enjoyed it.
I still missed my daily writing and interacting with my online friends completely, but having time off that was beyond my control became a Simple Joy that was unexpected and fabulous.
There have been many other Simple Joys. Seeing legions of trucks arrive in our community from other states to fix our electric problems made me well up with tears and so proud to be an American (again).
This past week and looking forward, Simple Joys will be called upon a lot to get through the cleanup and restoration of our community.
As always, I am wishing you Simple Joys this week and thank you for being a huge part of my Simple Joys.
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