I am going to save today's thanks for this evening; I have been thinking about it for days and need to mull over some more just how I want to go about writing it. However, the other two days missing from my roster are fresh in mind and ready to go:
Day Twenty-Eight: As every good Italian should, I have a huge amount of family (beyond my immediate circle at home) spread out from sibling to parents to cousins, aunts and uncles, second cousins, step-cousins, great-aunts, great-uncles, first cousins once removed, etc. There are some I speak with frequently, some that I don't, some I don't really ever want to speak with, and some who I miss terribly. Regardless of how I feel about them or they about me, though, I am thankful to have them in my life. They have helped to shape my view of the world, of myself, and of my future. Without them, for better or worse, I wouldn't have the values that I hold and the belief system that I hold dear. Everyone should have the opportunity to see so many ideas and perspectives in the people in their life; these differences and the gaps between are what allow us to see who we really are and what we really want to be. I am grateful to have had these people in my life over the years and now; they are family.
Day Twenty-Nine: My boys, oh, my boys. They really each should have gotten their own day, but it didn't work out. So you will have to suffer through a longer thanks today for the boys in my world.
I must start with Uilleam, my littlest man. He came into the world on his own terms and has lived every minute since in the same way. I told my mother after he was born that he is in my life to show me that I cannot continue to think that everything will go as planned- the way I planned. He has proven that to me over and over again. He is a love, my monkey, and is the happiest child I know. He has brought to all of us more smiles than we could imagine possible. He is doted on by his brothers and sister and loves them unconditionally in return, with wide arms and an even wider grin. I could not imagine my life without this little monster in it; he is a miracle, truly, of science and will, and I am eternally thankful for his existence.
Connlaodh is a tough nut. He wears his world on his sleeve, for better or worse. He doesn't play games, doesn't try to hide anything, doesn't care what the world thinks- he is who he is. He is stubborn (can't imagine where that comes from) and this drives me nuts! But what he also does is show the most unabashed love and concern and affection than almost anyone I know. He is the one who, in the midst of the chaos that is our ride home from school, will call out, "Mom!" To which I will answer, exasperated, "What, Connlaodh?" And the response I get, sincere in its glee and passion is, "'I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH." He makes me laugh, brings me to tears with his innocence, and makes me feel like a kid again, watching him see everything anew and in a different way than his brother and sister did before him. My brother bear, my big guy. My Connlaodh. Totally open, totally unafraid, totally love.
My oldest child, my first born. Taidhgin. I have spoken of him before, but he deserves another set of remarks. He is such an old man in there, so pensive and thoughtful. On so many levels he is an 8 year old boy (and a dork at that), but beyond the DSi, past the TV, far above the coolmath.com entertainment, he is a man beyond his years. Thoughtful, sensitive, concerned about the world around him, he is always the one of the four who wonders how the other person feels and how he would feel in the same position. He forgives without a second thought the people who hurt him; he doesn't ask for people to make it up to him, he always assumes people are doing the best that they can with what they can. It pains me sometimes because I can see how he could be hurt in the future by people who will take advantage of his good nature, but then I hope that he continues to hold onto it, because people as good as him are few and far between.
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