Tying Heartstrings

Happy Valentines day!  I thought in the spirit of the day I would tell about a wonderful tying heartstrings moment earlier this week.  I decided to attack a very messy drawer in my dresser that was filled with jewelry passed to me after my Mother-in-Law passed away nearly three years ago.  It really had turned into a catch-all drawer and had everything under the sun in it.  My daughters saw what I was up to and wanted to help.  I resisted the urge to say no and instead set up some basic rules.  The girls had a blast trying on grown-up jewelry and hearing the stories of the family members who had worn it before them.  It turned out there was jewelry from my Grandmother in the jumble as well.  They had such glowing little faces and careful hands while looking at everything ~ it really was delightful.  While searching the drawer, we also found my youngest son's baby hospital bracelet from 5 years ago!!!  Told you it was a catch-all drawer.


We decided to put the bracelet away in its proper place.  Each child has a box of the clothes they came home in, first tooth, first haircut curl, favorite toy, etc.  The kids always get excited about going through their boxes, but in the past our daughter with attachment disorder has had a hard time looking at her things.  She has always been upset about something or other in the box.  Often it's that her diaper was so much larger than her siblings'.  (All of our other children came as newborns ~ two as preemies ~ except her).  This time was different.  She was delighted with her box and also looking at her siblings' boxes.  She thanked me several times for keeping her things.  She didn't seem to notice any differences and just had fun looking at everything.  It was wonderful and I felt like she was coming closer to being a part of the fold of our family.  Sometimes I get frustrated with how slowly this process moves, but in that moment of time, I could see the little girl she is meant to be.  Hopefully, someday she will be a happy, secure girl all/most of the time.

Then Tom Sawyer got into his box and tried to squeeze himself into his baby sweater.  Look at that tiny diaper. 









Blessings, Dawn